A Glimpse of Eden
by angelstryke
Summary: Two years after his battle with Vash, Knives finds a new Plant child and vows to raise it to follow in his footsteps. The only thing in his way is an insurance agent by the name of Meryl Stryfe. But, such a small girl shouldn't be a problem.. right? KMV
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I don't own Trigun, I'm just borrowing it for awhile. Trigun is property of Yasuhiro Nightow, Mad House, Pioneer, and whoever else was smart enough to get a piece of the action. I just know I wasn't. T_T  
  
This is my FIRST fanfic, so reviews and comments will be greatly appreciated. And if you must flame me, flame me constructively. But I'd rather not get flamed at all. _  
  
'...' is thinking  
  
"..." is talking  
  
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A Glimpse of Eden   
  
--------------------  
  
Prologue:  
  
A solitary figure walked silently through the ruins of what had once been a small, but prosperous town.  
  
Pausing only once to briefly gaze over the charred remains of homes and businesses, the figure adjusted his cloak and continued on towards the building that had once contained the town's power source. Ducking low to avoid some fallen ceiling rubble, he entered the room which held the Plant. Straightening, he carefully made his way toward the bulb and glanced bitterly over the remains. Broken... yet another death to lay on the heads of the humans.   
  
After the town's destruction some eight months earlier, the populace had never bothered returning to check on it's Plant, which had somehow survived the quake that had laid waste to the town. For almost year the Plant had waited, innocently believing that it's humans would return to it. When the Plant finally realized that no one was coming, it had allowed itself to slowly fade away. To die, unfulfilled... alone.  
  
The man felt it's pain and last moments like a hot knife in his soul. He was too late. By less than a week it seemed. 'They will pay... I will avenge you, sister...'  
  
Turning to leave, the figure was halted by a low noise. Immediately turning his attention back to the bulb, his narrowed eyes searched desperately for the cause of the sound. And there, laying beside the bulb's hollowed out core, was a small infant. The Plant's final gift.  
  
Lifting the child gently, he held it ackwardly, but close to his body in an effort to share his body warmth. For a moment he feared that he was again too late, the child was still and unresponsive to his touch. Then the child opened it's eyes, the bright blue orbs only briefly searching the man's face before it opened it's mouth to deliver a loud and pensive cry. It was alive.   
  
The man hurried from the wreckage, clutching the crying child closer. It was alive, but for how much longer? 'Hurry... hurry!'  
  
He placed the child gently in the back seat of the vehicle and removed his cloak to wrap around the child for warmth. Watching the child sleep, a small smile touched his lips. A gift... a new beginning. Another chance to shape the world as he saw fit. As the world should be.   
  
After all these years... another child the same as he and his brother had been born. And this time, he would make sure the child would be raised to see the humans as they were.   
  
A pestilence of Eden.  
  
End Prologue:  
  
-------------  
  
~  
  
It's just a start, it gets better once the chapters get longer and I can write dialogue.   
  
I have the entire outline for this story already written, and I fully intend to complete this story. Provided this generates enough interest, that is. SO go and review!   
  
The more reviews, the faster I write, the faster I write, the faster the next chapter goes up. 


	2. And so it begins

Disclaimer: I don't own Trigun, I'm just borrowing it for awhile. Trigun is property of Yasuhiro Nightow, Mad House, Pioneer, and whoever else was smart enough to get a piece of the action. I just know I wasn't. T_T  
  
Special thanks to my reviewers! You've encouraged me to continue on with this fic.  
  
The chapters will be getting longer now, and the story's plot will pick up. I hope my characters aren't OOC, but I have faith that I got them right. Alot of fics have Knives too phychotic and evil, Meryl too angry and bitchy, and Vash too goofy. Well, okay... Vash CAN'T really be written as too goofy, but you get my point.  
  
My fic takes place two years after the anime, so my Meryl had calmed down a bit, but she still has flashes of her old self. Knives is kinda hard to write, and I hope everyone likes the way I've choosen to portray him.  
  
In any event, if the characters seem too OOC, please let me know.   
  
"..." is talking  
  
'...' is thinking  
  
-----------------  
  
A Glimpse of Eden  
  
-----------------  
  
Chapter 1 -  
  
Knives was deeply concerned. It had been almost a month since he had found the child and it still wasn't responding to him the way it should. He fed it and cared for it, but the child hadn't bonded with him in any way. He felt no link with the child as he and his brother had always shared.   
  
Also, the added responsibility of caring for a baby was greatly cutting into the time for his other pursuits, such as repairing some of the computers and equipment on the ship that had fallen into disrepair from years of neglect.  
  
He sighed, running his fingers through his hair in frustration. He never knew that a child would be so... needy.. And what about when the child grew and began to walk and talk? How would he find the time to constantly monitor the child and keep it safe from harm?   
  
He knew the child would grow at an extremely fast rate, one year of growth for this child would be equal to almost ten years for a human child, and then after one year the growth would slow until it reached a more normal rate.  
  
Could he put off his work for one year to care for a young child? He sighed again, leaning his head back against the chair's headrest. Staring blankly at the flickering computer screen in front of him, he could think of only one logical solution.  
  
And he hated it.  
  
~  
  
Meryl Stryfe glanced at the small clock on the store's wall. Only five more minutes until she could close the shop.  
  
She raised her arms over her head and stretched, allowing herself a small yawn. 'I wonder if the boss will know if I close up the shop and leave early?' She ended that thought almost as quickly as it had come. No way, her boss (somehow) would know. And he would probably dock her pay, or even fire her. She couldn't risk losing her job. The town was small and jobs were hard to come by. The only reason her boss had hired her in the first place was because her friend Milly had cornered the man and had 'convinced' him what a great idea it would be to hire her. The memory of Milly shaking her finger in the man's astonished face and insisting that 'it's really the only smart thing to do' came back to Meryl and she couldn't surpress a grin.  
  
"Thank God for Milly!" she laughed aloud, spooking the customer who had been browsing. He shot her an annoyed look before quickly leaving the store. Oops... that wasn't good. She really had to watch herself, that was the third customer that month she had scared away with a random outburst. She snuck another glance at the clock.   
  
Yes!!! It was seven o'clock. She hurredly locked the cash register and gathered her bag. Locking the door behind her, she stepped out onto the wooden walkway. The sky was already beginning to grow dark so she quickened her step toward her evening job. The diner was located at the edge of town and if she didn't hurry the manager would be upset.   
  
~  
  
She had been late. The manager had been standing by the door waiting for her, impatiently glancing at his watch as she walked in. He hadn't said anything about her lateness, but Meryl could tell that he had been annoyed.   
  
She laid the last plate in it's place and sighed. She hadn't been that late. Only ten minutes. She had stopped to talk with some children and had bought them some ice cream. By the time she had said her goodbyes and dashed over...  
  
"Meryl!" She jumped, her thoughts interupted by the manager's harsh voice. "Stop dawdling and help serve the food!" She moved quickly to the kitchen. Grabbing up a bowl she filled it with soup. Working in the kitchen every night was her second job. Her low pay at the shop couldn't cover the rent and other necessities, so she had gotten another job. Milly also helped earn money by working in the fields during the day, but by now she would be home preparing dinner.  
  
She carefully placed the bowl on a tray along with some flatware and napkins and then carried it out into the dining area. Plastering a smile on her face, she approached the first table and set the items from the tray down in front of the customer. "Good evening, Mr. Isaac," she greeted. Mr. Isaac was the town's Tomas breeder.  
  
"Evening, Meryl. Keeping busy I see." Mr. Isaac replied. He shook his head as she moved back toward the kitchen. Poor girl. So many people took advantage of her. Her boss at the shop worked the girl ragged all day and then the manager here worked her just as hard in the evenings.   
  
If she was his daughter he would never allow her to work the dining area. She was always being harassed and leered at by most of the male customers as she tried to serve meals. Just last week, he himself had had to throw one of the customers out on his ear after the drunken fool had tried to grab the girl as she walked by.  
  
He glanced around. The town had aquired more than it's far share of undesirables since that new saloon had opened last month. It had become a refuge for drunks and criminals who spent their days drinking and gambling before coming here for dinner and to ogle the waitresses.   
  
He watched as Meryl came back into the dining room carrying another bowl of soup on her tray, her small and graceful form moving expertly between the tables. He also couldn't help but notice that one of the town's more frequent troublemakers was also watching the girl, a little too closely in his opinion. He sighed. He couldn't do much for the poor girl, but perhaps he could make her life a little easier for just one night.  
  
"Meryl." He called out, signaling her to come over. She came, smiling and eager to please.  
  
"Yes, Mr. Isaac? Is there something you need? Something isn't wrong with your soup is it?"  
  
"No, no. My food is fine, thank you, Meryl. It's just I was hoping you could do me a favor. You see, I think I forgot to close the gate to the Thomas pasture. Do you think you could go out and check on it for me?" A huge grin lit her face.   
  
"Sure, I don't mind. I'd have to ask Mr. Linnay first to see if it's ok, but I think he'll let me go. The kitchen isn't that busy tonight."  
  
She headed toward the kitchen, already untying her apron. A minute later she waved at him and headed out the door. He smiled to himself. Yep, he couldn't do much for the girl, but at least he could get her out of the kitchen for one night.  
  
~  
  
Meryl walked out into the night, glad to have escaped the smells and grease of the kitchen. She grinned. And to have escaped one night grope free. She leisurely strolled toward the Thomas pasture located on the outskirts of town, taking in the cool night air, glad to be alone at least for awhile.  
  
Her thoughts turned, as they usually did lately, to Vash. It had been over two months now since he had left, saying only that he needed to visit some 'old friends' and take care of some personal matters. He had promised to come back and had asked the girls to wait for him, but sometimes Meryl worried that he wasn't coming back. He had lived with them in this small town for two years, since his battle with Knives, and maybe he had gotten the urge to travel again and had decided to leave them behind. She pushed the thought away. No, he would come back, he had promised.   
  
"Meryl, wait up!"   
  
She sighed. Well... it had been nice while it had lasted. She turned to see who was calling her. It was Andrew, the banker's son. She smiled to acknowledge that she had heard him, but kept walking. He caught up to her easily enough and walked alongside her, keeping pace with her step.   
  
After a few minutes of silence she glanced sideways at him. Gosh... he was cute. Dark hair and eyes, and he had the most gorgeous smile that just seemed to light up his entire face. Lately he had been spending alot of time with her at the store while she worked, just talking and trying to make her laugh. He was a good friend. And lately it seemed he was interested in becoming something more.   
  
But she wasn't interested. Her heart belonged to Vash. And even though she had never told Vash of her true feelings for him, she thought that maybe he understood. She wasn't sure if he felt the same way about her, but since that day when he had returned with his brother slung over his shoulder, he had become more considerate and attentive toward her. There were times when she would catch him watching her with that gentle smile on his face, as if he had finally found somewhere to belong. Other times he would brush against her 'accidently', or leave his hand over hers a second longer than was necessary when they both reached for the same thing. And whenever she went grocery shopping he would always tag along to keep her company, and when they walked back home he always insisted on carrying the bags. Sure, he usually dropped a bag or two before they made it in the door, but it was a nice gesture anyway. They had gotten even more close in the last few months. The week before he left they had stayed up late laughing and talking. She had even been close to finally admitting her feelings to him. Then the next day he had told them of his plan to visit some friends and a few days later he was gone.  
  
Maybe she had chased him away. Maybe he knew she was about to confess her love for him and he had left, in order to spare her feelings when he had to tell her he didn't feel the same way. Or maybe he had grown tired of living with her and Milly and had returned to his old traveling ways. Maybe she and Milly should pack up and track him down. But what if they never found him? Or he returned in their absence and thought that they had abandoned him? Or worse, what if they found him and discovered that he had in fact left just to get away from them, from her?  
  
'So... got out of kitchen duty, huh?" Andrew grinned at her, interupting her thoughts.  
  
"What? Oh...yes. Mr. Isaac asked me to check on his Thomas'. He thinks he might have left the gate open again."  
  
Andrew smiled. Either Mr. Isaac was extremely forgetful, or he needed to think up new story to get Meryl out of the kitchen. This was the third time that month he had sent her out to check on the pasture gate for him.   
  
He casually stretched his arms above his head and snuck a sideways glance at Meryl. She was beautiful. There may have been other girls in the town that were more beautiful than Meryl, but not to him. She was special. She was different. She was... Meryl. He had never sought out her company until these last couple months, admiring her only from a distance before. He had always assumed that she was Vash the Stampede's woman and that put her on the unavailible list. But now, Vash was gone and Meryl was still there. Maybe he had a chance after all.  
  
Hurrying ahead of her, he hopped the fence and reached out a hand to help her over. He knew she didn't need the help, but he just wanted the excuse to touch her hand. Grasping his hand lightly, she easily climbed over the fence and then turned to scan the pasture, quickly spotting a Thomas lazily munching on feed.   
  
"There's one! I think it's Jack." That Thomas was frequently leaving the pen through the open pasture gate to sneak an extra bite to eat. Other than Jack, there didn't seem to be any other Thomas' in the pasture. So all she had to do now was catch the rogue Thomas, get him back into his pen, and lock the gate. Easy... yeah, right.  
  
"I'll catch him for you, Meryl!"  
  
She watched Andrew sprint off toward the Thomas with a wry smile on her face. That Thomas wasn't going to be caught so easily. It hated to be penned up. She watched Andrew chase after the Thomas for a few minutes before deciding she'd better help or they'd be out there all night. She started toward Andrew to formalize a plan of capture when all of the sudden she had the strange feeling that she was being watched. She had just begun to turn around when she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her head and everything faded to black.  
  
~  
  
Andrew gave up chasing the Thomas and bent over in an effort to catch his breath. Damn Thomas! It was making him look like a fool in front of Meryl. He put an embarassed smile on his face and looked up toward her, a request for help forming on his lips.   
  
But she was gone.   
  
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End chapter 1  
  
~  
  
Please, R&R!!! Next chapter will be ready sooner than later. ^_^v 


	3. Knives?

Disclaimer: I don't own Trigun, I'm just borrowing it for awhile. Trigun is property of Yasuhiro Nightow, Mad House, Pioneer, and whoever else was smart enough to get a piece of the action. I just know I wasn't. T_T  
  
Another short chapter... but the next one will be longer, I promise. The first three chapters were kinda rushed. _  
  
"..." is talking  
  
'...' is thinking  
  
-----------------  
  
A Glimpse of Eden  
  
-----------------  
  
Chapter 2 -  
  
~  
  
Meryl shifted her weight and rolled over. She was cold and she wondered if her blanket had somehow fallen off during the night. Her left hand groped idly for it while her body clung to the last moments of peaceful sleep.   
  
Ah, well... it was probably time to get up, anyway. She had to take inventory at the store today. Her hand fell back to her side and she felt... floor? Surprised, she sat up. Floor? Had she been so tired last night that she hadn't even made it into her bed? Her eyes took in her surroundings and then widened in shock. She wasn't in her room. In fact, she wasn't anywhere that she recognized. She slowly got to her feet, her body aching in protest. She was in a large room with no furnature, no door, no windows. How the heck had she gotten in there?   
  
Her thoughts were interupted when a seam in the wall parted and in walked a tall blonde man. Surprised, she took a step back, the events of the previous night slowly coming back to her. Seemingly equally surprised at seeing her awake, the man paused briefly before fully stepping into the room.   
  
'Knives!'  
  
Meryl hadn't seen him since he had left their home over a year before. Vash had returned from his battle carrying a severely wounded Knives and had asked the girls to help him care for his brother until he recovered from his injuries. It had taken almost an entire year. A year of having to endure Knives' angry silences and cold stares. Of having to watch Vash tenderly change his bandages and clean his wounds, crying every time his brother winced in pain, feeling it as though it were his own. Of having to watch as Milly dutifully cooked meals for their patient, only to have it knocked to the floor in a fit of angry rage by the same man for who it had been so carefully prepared. Of having to work more hours at the store in order to pay for medicine for a man who would have eagerly killed her, Milly, and everyone in the small town were he given the chance. Then, one day Vash had shown up for dinner without his brother, saying only that Knives had decided to return to his ship and that he wouldn't trouble anyone anymore. And that had been it.  
  
But now... here he was in front of her. Looking much the same as she last remembered him. He was tall, broad shouldered, with closely cropped light blonde hair... and the coldest blue eyes she had ever seen.   
  
He took notice of her appearance as well. She was small, but he knew she was strong and capable. Her hair was slightly longer than he remembered, but she still had those strange violet-grey eyes. Eyes that now seemed to be studying him with a great deal of apprehension.  
  
"What are you doing!?" she demanded, trying to appear more calm than she felt. "What is this place!?"  
  
He ignored her questions and moved closer, his gaze traveling over her body. She automatically took a step back, trying to put some distance between them, but he quickly reached out and grabbed her wrist to halt her retreat and pulled her closer to him. He seemed to be studying her, evaluating her somehow. She tensed and he pushed her away from him and stepped back.  
  
He nodded toward her. "Come with me." He turned and walked toward the door, stopping only when he noticed she wasn't following. "What? Are you deaf or something, girl?"  
  
She frowned. Deaf? "I don't understand. What... do you mean to do with me?" She clutched the front of her white blouse, scared of what he wanted from her.   
  
He saw her frightened look and for a brief moment, confusion crossed his handsome features before smoothing out into one of disgust. "Don't be ridiculous. I would... never... do what you're thinking with something like you."  
  
Relief, and a little bit of anger at the insult, flooded her. At another barked, "Come", she quickly followed her captor from the room.  
  
~  
  
The place, whatever it was, was amazing. Long metalic corridors that branched off into more corridors and rooms amazed her. Strange lights and panels along the walls intrigued her. She was so intrigued by one flashing red light that she almost ran into the back of Knives when he abruptly stopped walking.   
  
Casting an irritated glance back at her, he pressed a button on a panel and the wall slid open to reveal what looked to be a bedroom. Stepping inside and walking towards the bed he stopped to make sure she had followed him inside. When she hesitantly approached him he gestured toward the bed. There, laying amongst the covers, was a baby that appeared to be about a year old. Meryl looked questionally from the child to the man.  
  
"Listen carefully, for I'll not repeat myself. From now until I decide otherwise, you are solely responsible for the welfare of that child. Your duty will be to feed and care for him as necessary, and when he gets older you are to teach and watch over him. If you fail to do so adequately or refuse to co-operate in any way..." he trailed off, waiting until he was sure he had her full attention before finishing, "I will kill you." It was said with such a quiet non-challance that it made Meryl shiver. Throughly satisfied with her reaction, he abruptly turned and left the room, the door sliding shut behind him.  
  
Meryl's legs didn't seem to be able to support her any longer and she sat down on the bed in somewhat of a stupor. What in the hell had just happened? She cautiously glanced around the room, her mind cloudy from sleep and shock. She briefly remembered being in the pasture with Andrew, then feeling a sharp pain in her head... and then she had woken up here. Sighing, she flopped back onto the bed. 'I wonder what's happening back in town. Surely everyone must be looking for me by now. Andrew must have--'  
  
She sat back up, suddenly struck by a thought. Was Andrew okay? Knives hadn't harmed him, she hoped.  
  
The child made a slight noise, and Meryl glanced over to find it studying her with curious blue eyes. After a long moment, the child gave her a lopsided grin, and surprised, she smiled back. She hadn't known babies could smile like that. In fact, other than the knowledge that they smelt bad and slept alot, she really didn't know anything about babies. The smile quickly faded from her face. Where had the baby come from, and what was Knives of all people doing with it? And why had he kidnapped her and demanded she take care of it? It was all so confusing.  
  
She rolled over on her stomach, trying to think. The baby, apparently upset at no longer being the subject of her undivided attention, made a small burbling noise and waved it's arms back and forth. Lost in thought, she ignored the baby until it began to cry. Loudly.   
  
"Oh no! Please, please don't do that!" She picked the baby up and tried to calm it by patting it's back, but that only seemed to make the child cry harder. She placed the child on her lap and tried to comfort him, but he only screamed at her and tried to pull away.  
  
Suddenly her mind cleared, and the events of the previous night and the enormity of the current situation finally sunk in. Quietly, she began to cry, hot tears falling down her cheeks and soaking into the front of her blouse. The child stopped it's own crying and looked up at her, intrigued by her tears. Reaching up a tiny hand, the child gently patted her cheek, almost as if to comfort her. Hugging the child close, Meryl stopped fighting the tears and gave into her grief.  
  
~  
  
Knived leaned back in his chair, lost in thought. Kidnapping the girl had been easy enough. The boy she had been with hadn't even noticed, at least not until he had already faded back into the darkness with the girl's unconscious form.   
  
The idea of a human living on his ship still bothered him, but he supposed it was a necessary evil. He needed someone to care for the child until it was able to get along without constant supervision. He figured it would be a year at most. He frowned, his jaw clenching in irritation. How was he supposed to put up with a human for a whole year? It would take all his restraint he was sure.  
  
He had needed someone to care for the child and he only knew two humans, his brother's 'insurance girls', Milly and Meryl. He had quickly decided to take the smaller girl over the tall one. The tall one had been extremely annoying when he had been forced to endure their company for a year. She hadn't seemed to be afraid of him and her constantly cheerful nature had annoyed him horribly. The smaller girl, whom he hadn't seen that often, was less annoying and more quiet. She would be easier to deal with.  
  
He straightened up in his chair, the sudden urge to check on the child almost overwhelming.   
  
After he had left the room he had stood outside the door, listening. When the boy had started to cry he had almost raced inside to check on him, but had suppressed the desire. He had needed to see how the girl handled it. When the child had stopped crying soon after he had been greatly relieved.  
  
Maybe this would work out better than he had thought.  
  
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End chapter 2  
  
~  
  
Thanks for all the positive reviews! I hope you guys will continue to support my fic.   
  
Taedere-Belletrist: Of course I'll continue! How can I resist the puppy eye look?  
  
Ana: Thanks for the support! And the chapters will continue to get longer, I promise.   
  
Pyroaoi: Thanks, and I hope you'll enjoy this and the upcoming chapters as well.  
  
angelarms: *blush* Well, I don't know about the 'one of the best' part, but I'm having alot of fun writing this and I'm glad people are actually enjoying it.  
  
Calumongal: Working nights in a kitchen sucks, but it does give me plenty of time to think up Trigun fics. Knives is very logical and 'normal' right now, but once he begins having to interact with Meryl... well, let's just say I have some interesting stuff planned for this fic. ^_^v  
  
Rainy-days13: No worries about Meryl. After she gets through with Knives, he might just wish he'd taken the 'tall one' instead. ^_^  
  
Next chapter: I finally get to write dialogue!!! Oh, and Meryl and Knives have a chat about 'Eden' and Knives' plans for humanity. Stick around!  
  
Psst! R&R please!!! 


	4. Encounter in the arboretum

Disclaimer: I don't own Trigun, I'm just borrowing it for awhile. Trigun is property of Yasuhiro Nightow, Mad House, Pioneer, and whoever else was smart enough to get a piece of the action. I just know I wasn't. T_T  
  
"..." is talking  
  
'...' is thinking  
  
Hello readers! Rhys here *waves* and look... this chapter is longer than usual! Yay! I told you it would happen eventually. ^_^v  
  
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A Glimpse of Eden  
  
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Chapter 3 -  
  
~  
  
Only a month had passed since Meryl had started caring for the child and already he was getting too heavy for her to carry around all the time. She had learned from Vash long ago that he and Knives weren't human, they were a type of hybrid Plant. And so was this child, apparently. She had also recently learned that this child would age faster than human children did. He was just past two months old and already he appeared to be two years old.   
  
She had also given the boy a name... Locke. She liked it. Knives hadn't looked too pleased to discover that she had named the child, but what was she supposed to do? Go around calling the child 'boy' like Knives went around calling her 'girl' whenever their paths happened to cross? Hmph... why he insisted on calling her that when he knew perfectly well her name was Meryl...   
  
Carefully shifting Locke to her other hip, she continued on toward the arboretum. She had explored much of the ship in the month she had been there and the arboretum was by far her favorite room. It was so green and beautiful, so different then the rest of the bland ship. So different than the entire planet for that matter.  
  
Upon entering the room she found her favorite spot under a large oak tree and settled down with the boy. Almost immediately, he wriggled out of her grasp and toddled off toward a colorful flower. 'Wow... walking at only two months. That had to be a record or something.'   
  
She laid back on the grass and relaxed, enjoying the peaceful surroundings, but careful to keep an eye on Locke. She didn't want him getting too far out of her reach. While she watched the child play, she thought over what little she knew of Knives. She hadn't seen much of him in the month she had been there and she had the nagging suspicion that he was avoiding her. When they did meet it was usually brief, he either completely ignored her or asked only about the child.   
  
He treated her with a practiced politeness, but she knew that deep inside he resented her presence and only put up with it for Locke's sake. She knew he had an intense hatred for the human race, of which she was part. When he looked at her with those ice blue eyes of his... she shivered. He didn't look at Locke like that, only her. Like she was nothing, something he could easily crush beneath his heel. Like a... bug, or something.  
  
The doors of the arboretum slid silently open and Knives walked in, startling Meryl. He hesitated upon seeing her, almost as if he was trying to decide whether or not to come in after all. Catching sight of Knives, Locke forgot his fascination with the red flower and clapped his hands together, happy to see him. Smiling at the boy, Knives walked over to where Meryl sat and bent to pick him up when the toddler reached for him.  
  
The child began to speak a mixture of baby talk and mispronounced words at him and Knives thought he caught something about a cat, but he wasn't sure. He shook his head, not understanding, and the child looked annoyed with him.  
  
Meryl laughed. "He's telling you about his cat." Knives glanced down at her.  
  
"Cat?" He was confused. There were no animals on board.  
  
Meryl pulled her legs to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. Watching Knives interact with the child was so interesting. The hardness left his eyes and he seemed to relax, to fully enjoy the child's company. She briefly wished he acted like that towards her, but dismissed the idea. Knives... being pleasant to her. Treating her like a human being. But, Meryl supposed, he did treat her like a human being. Like a bug.  
  
"I made him a stuffed cat to play with. I found some material and sewing things, so..." She shrugged. Surely there was nothing wrong with that. She had also made the child some clothes, but she doubted that Knives had noticed.   
  
Knives frowned, thinking. He supposed that was alright. Locke squirmed in his arms, reaching his hands toward a leafy plant and Knives put the child down and watched as he grabbed hold of the plant. And promptly tried to eat it.  
  
"No, Locke!" Meryl leaned over and pulled the leaf from the child's mouth. "You don't eat that!"  
  
"No, no, no!" he repeated back at her, and he grabbed for the plant again.  
  
She pulled the child into her arms and tempted him with a cookie. The child seemed reluctant to let go of the plant, but finally he grabbed the cookie and munched on it happily. Knives watched as the boy, or 'Locke' as the girl called him, chewed on the snack and then leaned back into the girl's arms with a contented sigh.   
  
Knives' eyes narrowed. He had to be careful. It wouldn't be wise to allow the boy to get too attached to the girl. He walked over and leaned against the tree, crossing his arms over his chest, deep in thought. When the boy was a little older he would take a more active role in raising him. Teach the boy to work the computers and other things that would be a help to him. There was alot of work still to do. He had plans.   
  
He watched the boy's eyes drift close and his grip on the cookie weaken. He must be tired. The soothing sound of the stream was probably helping to lull the boy to sleep as well. Locke dropped the remaining bits of cookie and cuddled into the girl's arms before finally falling asleep. Knives watched her drop a kiss onto the boy's blonde head and brush the hair back from his forehead. He had been right. The girl was perfect for the job. She truly seemed to care for the child.  
  
He shifted his weight and saw how the girl tensed at the slight movement. He smiled. The girl didn't trust him. And why should she? He was the one that would bring destruction to her kind. His smile was immediately replaced by a frown. And didn't they deserve it? They enslaved his kind, sucking off their energy like leeches. He felt rage rising up within him but he forced it away. It wouldn't do to get angry now. He would save it, harbor it, until he could unleash his fury on the human race.   
  
He glanced down at the girl who so lovingly held the child. She was one of them. How dare she look so peaceful when he was a mass of raging emotions! He wondered how she would react if he decided she was no longer needed and disposed of her now.   
  
"It's so beautiful."  
  
Knives tensed, surprised at hearing her speak again. The girl had always acted so nervous around him before, scared even. Why did she address him now?  
  
At his continued silence she spoke again. "I can't believe a place like this exists. It's so different from Gunsmoke."  
  
Knives smirked, his gaze proudly traveling over the many different varieties of trees and plants that grew in the arboretum. Of course it was different than her planet. Here there were no humans to corrupt and pollute it. He had made this place to be his temporary refuge. Once the human filth was removed he would begin on the planet, to transform it into his vision of Eden. He glanced back down at the girl again. She was looking up at him, awaiting a reply.  
  
"It's a biosphere. The room is engineered to support plant life," he finally replied, his tone flat and edged with boredom.  
  
She searched for something else to say to fill the uneasy silence that followed. "So I guess it's like the ones on Gunsmoke.... like Little Arcadia?"  
  
Her comment earned a derisive snort from Knives. "It's nothing like the ones on your planet."  
  
"Oh..." Bah... why was it so hard to have a conversation with this man? A new thought occured to her. "Can this be done outside? I mean, can you make trees and things grow without the need of a biosphere?"  
  
His eyes narrowed dangerously. "If I wanted to."  
  
Ignoring the warning alarms going off in her head, she plowed forward with her next question. "And... you don't want to?"  
  
"Not now." He leaned his head back against the tree and closed his eyes. Hopefully, the girl would take the hint that he was no longer interested in a conversation.  
  
A minute passed, and then... "Why not now?"  
  
He sighed. Opening his eyes he glared down at her, wondering why he was even bothering to answer. "Because now is not the time."  
  
"And when would that time be?"  
  
Knives raised an eyebrow and tried to conceal his amusement. If anything, the girl was certainly persistant. "When all of humanity is purged from this world. Then, and only then, will I create my Eden," he answered, his tone almost patronizing.  
  
Meryl frowned slightly. Purged? She knew he disliked humans, but to take it so far? "Why do you hate humans so much?"  
  
He glanced away. "The humans are parasites. They live off the suffering of my kind."  
  
"The Plants?" Unconsciously, she tightened her grip around Locke and he let out a sleepy moan in protest.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"But--"  
  
"Humans are also violent, selfish, and deceitful," he interupted, locking his eyes with hers, "they are a blight on this world and must be removed."  
  
Meryl carefully stood to her feet, adjusting Locke so his weight would rest more comfortably on her hip, and turned to face Knives, who quickly stepped away from the tree and straightened to his full height, easily towering over her small frame.  
  
"Not all humans are the same, Knives. You can't judge the many for the actions of the few."  
  
He frowned at the sound of his name. He had never heard her use it before. He thought for a moment, but decided not to take offense at the familiar way she said it. She was a human after all. She didn't know any better.  
  
"They are all the same. Liars, murderers, and thieves."  
  
Knives' pale blue eyes held her own violet-grey ones. A long moment passed between them, both refusing to be the first to break the tense standoff. Locke began to stir in Meryl's arms, growing uncomfortable in her tight grip and frustrated by the lack of attention he was receiving, and she had no choice but to turn away from Knives to concentrate on the child.  
  
"I think he's hungry."  
  
Knives shrugged dismissively. "So feed him." He glanced off toward the stream, glad to soon be rid of her unnerving presence.  
  
She hugged Locke close and moved toward the door. As the doors slid open she glanced back at Knives. He was still staring off into the distance, looking so troubled, so alone...  
  
"I give you my word, Knives." He glanced back at her, his beautiful eyes cold and empty. "Any promises I make, I keep. I will never lie to you."  
  
"Never?" he replied mockingly.  
  
"Never."  
  
And with that she turned and left the room.  
  
-----------------  
  
End chapter 3  
  
~  
  
Ana: Wow, thanks for sticking with me and reviewing every chapter that comes out. I appreciate it!  
  
Calumongal: Another reviewer that's sticking with me, thanks! Yeah, Knives has no idea what he's in for. But then, neither does Meryl...   
  
Magnet-Rose: Thanks for your review and positive comments! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, too.  
  
WW: Woot, thanks for the review!!!  
  
Jeril Dragonsoul: Yeah, there are a bunch of Knives/children stories out there, but I hope mine is a little different. Knives basically dumped the kid on Meryl and is barely around. That will soon change, though.   
  
One last thing... I'm thankful for the people who say I write description well, but I honestly think my descriptions are the weakest part of my writing. But if you guys say it's good, who am I to argue? ^_^  
  
~  
  
Next time: Meryl learns the hard way about the difficulties of raising a toddler and the difficulties of trying to reason with Knives.  
  
~  
  
Meryl: I'll give you readers a hint on how it goes... Knives is an arrogant a$$hole!  
  
Rhys: Meryl, please... watch your language. There are impressionable children around...  
  
Meryl: Don't give me that! I know you're having a fun time writing this stuff!  
  
Rhys: *giggle* Yeah, wait'll you see what happens between you two in chapter 7...oops, maybe I shouldn't ha--  
  
Meryl: Argh!!! *tries to run away*  
  
Rhys: --ve said that... _ 


	5. Difficult and frustrating

Disclaimer: I don't own Trigun, I'm just borrowing it for awhile. Trigun is property of Yasuhiro Nightow, Mad House, Pioneer, and whoever else was smart enough to get a piece of the action. I just know I wasn't. T_T  
  
"..." is talking  
  
'...' is thinking  
  
-----------------  
  
A Glimpse of Eden  
  
-----------------  
  
Chapter 4 -  
  
~  
  
Meryl leaned back from scrubbing Locke's hair and sighed. How could such a small child get so filthy? And so quickly? He had been taking his afternoon nap and she had left him alone for only a few minutes to retrieve a book from her room and when she had returned she had found the bed empty and Locke missing. A frantic search had found Locke in the kitchen area playing with various cooking ingredients, one of which happened to be flour. She usually would have been upset at the mess he had made and scolded him about it, but at the time she had been so relieved to have found him safe that she had forgotten to be angry. Now she was just thankful that he hadn't found anything sharp to play with. She would have to be more careful from now on.  
  
She reached out and fingered a strand of his hair. The mess was finally starting to wash off. His clothes were ruined, of course. There was no possible way she could get all of the stains out. She smiled. At least in her mad dash to the bathroom to clean him up she hadn't run into Knives. She hated to think of what his reaction to Locke's appearance would have been.   
  
She thought she had made somewhat of a breakthrough since that day in the arboretum two months ago. Knives no longer ignored or avoided her as he had done before. In fact, he now routinely took meals with her and Locke, chatting politely with her over breakfast or dinner about the things she and Locke had done that day, or her thoughts on a book she had been reading. He even called her by her name instead of 'girl' now. But... he still acted like she was some inferior being that he only allowed to exist because he had a use for her.  
  
"Locke..." she sighed, "why did you wander off? You were supposed to be taking a nap."  
  
"I'm sorry," he replied, his lower lip quivering.  
  
"It's alright, Locke. Just... don't do it again, ok?"  
  
"Ok, Meryl." He smiled and happily resumed splashing in the water.  
  
She patted his blonde head affectionately. He was only four months old, she reminded herself, he didn't know any better yet. She rinsed the soap and shampoo off and wrapped him in a large towel, ignoring his protests over being taken out of the water. After she finished drying him off, which took quite a bit of time because he kept trying to squirm out of her grasp and climb back into the tub, she picked him up and carried him back to his room. Setting him down on his bed, she looked through his clothes and tried to find him something to wear. Alot of the things didn't fit him properly anymore. He grew like a weed.   
  
She finally found something clean that still fit and dressed him, absently listening as his yakked at her about black cats not liking cookies, or something like that. After she finished buttoning his shirt, she grabbed a hairbrush and began running it through his tangled long hair, much to his dismay. The brush caught on a knot, causing Locke to cry out, and he tried to get away from her and the object that had caused him pain, but he only succeeded in further entangling the brush in his hair. She sat down on the bed and pulled him onto her lap, wrapping her arms around him and waiting for him to calm down before attempting to untangle the knot. He gave an annoyed grunt, but allowed her to finish brushing his hair. Fighting back tears of frustration, she buried her face in his hair, wondering if all children were this difficult.   
  
After a minute, Locke yawned and leaned back against her, reminding her that he hadn't had his afternoon nap yet, the little troublemaker. She tucked him into bed, and after another yawn, he curled up under the blanket and, almost immediately, fell asleep. She brushed the hair away from his face and smiled at how innocent he looked, like a little angel.  
  
"Yeah, right. Only when he's sleeping," she mumbled, still irritated over the disappearing act he had pulled.  
  
After bending down to give him a quick kiss on the cheek, she turned back to the matter at hand. She really needed to make him new clothes, but what would she do when she ran out of the materials? She needed new things, too. She only had two changes of clothing left and they were both getting ragged.  
  
Maybe she should talk to Knives about taking her into town to do some shopping. He had gone a month before to purchase food, but it hadn't occurred to Meryl at the time to ask to accompany him. Would he even let her? She would have to take Locke with her. They both needed new clothing, and she just couldn't picture Knives shopping for children's clothes and ladies' lingerie.  
  
She decided she would talk to him about it before the day was done.  
  
~  
  
Meryl found him in the study, sitting cross-legged on the floor and surrounded by books open to various pages. He glanced up briefly as she entered, then returned his attention to the book he held on his lap. She walked over until she stood directly in front of him, trying to gage what kind of mood he was in.  
  
"Yes?" he asked curtly, annoyed that she would interupt his work.  
  
When she didn't answer right away he glanced back up at her. She appeared to be nervous and kept shifting her weight from one foot to another. He didn't like it when she acted like this. It usually meant she had something to tell him that she knew would upset him. Like the last time, when she had let Locke play on computer's keyboard and the boy had managed to erase all of the data he had collected that day.   
  
"Um, Knives? Can I talk to you?" she asked, sounding slightly hesitant.  
  
"About what?" he asked, unconsciously leaning away from her, her close proximity an irritant.  
  
"Locke."  
  
Growing alarmed by the seriousness of her tone, he started to rise to his feet. "Is he alright? He isn't hurt, is he?"  
  
"No, no, no!" Meryl said hurriedly to calm his fears. "Locke's fine. He's taking a nap."  
  
Relieved, he settled back on the floor. Relief then quickly turned to irritation. "What is it then!?"  
  
"It's... um... just that, Locke is growing out of his clothes and needs new ones."  
  
"Is that all?" He glanced back down at his book, impatient to resume his studies. "So make him some new ones. That's what you've been doing, isn't it?"  
  
"Well, yes," she blushed. So he had noticed. "But I'm running low on the materials I've been using."  
  
"But you have enough for now?" he asked absently, glancing away from the book to write something down in a notebook.  
  
"Well... yes. But only for another month or so. I need... I need to go to town." His head jerked up. Oops, that hadn't come out quite the way she had wanted it to.  
  
"No," he said flatly, his mouth forming into a frown.  
  
"But, Knives--" she began, her hands gesturing impatiently.  
  
"No!" he shouted, slamming his book shut and glaring up at her.  
  
She crossed her arms in front of her chest and tried not to glare back. The man was impossible! Not only was he not even going to give her request consideration, but he wasn't even going to allow her to argue her point. "Please, Knives. I need some things, too." A thought occured to her. "I promise you I won't try to run away." Maybe that was the reason for his refusal.  
  
"No. I won't give you the chance." So she had guessed right.  
  
"But I promised!"  
  
"And your word means NOTHING to me!"  
  
Her eyes widened at the fierceness of his reply. All this time and he still didn't trust her? Of course not, why should he? She was human after all. According to what he believed they were all liars and not to be trusted. She turned to leave.  
  
"Where are you going?" His voice, low and slightly curious, halted her angry retreat.  
  
She whirled around to face him, her hands clenched at her sides. "Back to my room."  
  
"Who gave you permission to leave?" he raised in eyebrow slightly in question.  
  
She frowned, her brow knitting in confusion. "I thought we were done."  
  
"We're done when I say we're done." He placed the book on a stack with some others and casually got to his feet. He was in a playful mood and perhaps the girl would entertain him for awhile. He walked slowly around her, enjoying her irritation, especially since he knew he was the cause of it. "What would you do? If I were to allow you to accompany me to town?" he asked, putting extra emphasis on the word 'allow'.  
  
She blinked, surprised. "What would I do?" she repeated blankly.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"I would get the things we needed."  
  
"... And?" he prompted.  
  
"And... I would visit my friends," she raised her chin defiantly.  
  
"Exactly! And how would your friends react? To see you walk into town with the man who abducted you?" He crossed his arms and tilted his head slightly to one side, awaiting her reply.  
  
Oh... she had forgotten about that part.  
  
"Well?"   
  
"I guess... they wouldn't react very well." She replied lamely, lowering her head and looking at the floor so she wouldn't have to see his smug face.  
  
He smirked. "Of course not! So you see why I shouldn't allow you to go to town?"  
  
"I guess so." She hung her head even lower, defeated.  
  
He bent down so his eyes were level to hers and grinned at her, pleased to have won the argument.  
  
"But..." she glanced up at him.  
  
"But what?"  
  
"But we don't have to go to Spring. We could go to a different town. A town where nobody knows me," she smiled, her eyes hopeful. It was a compromise, maybe Knives would--  
  
Knives frowned and straightened, glaring down at her. "No."  
  
"But, Knives--"  
  
"No! And that is final." He jerked his head in the direction of the door. "You may go now."  
  
He turned his back on her, signaling that the conversation was over. With a sigh she turned and left the room.   
  
'You haven't heard the last of this, Knives! I promise you that!'  
  
-----------------  
  
End chapter 4  
  
~  
  
Magnet-Rose: Thanks for coming back to review! Yep, the chapters are short, but at least there's no cliffhangers. Oh... wait, there's one of those in chapter 7...   
  
Yma: Yma!!! Yay! Thanks for reviewing my fic! And thank you, if you think my characterization is good, then I must be doing something right. ^_^v  
  
Neptune Butterfly: Yep, I'm from H-Town, Texas! I love K/M/V fics alot, too, and I agree, not knowing who Meryl winds up with until the very end is the best part. Chapter 7... you'll have to wait and see. That was my favorite chapter to write, though , and I think it's one of my fics best. Fluffiness? Knives!? I don't think Knives can be 'fluffy' and still remain in character, so no worries there.  
  
angelarms: I'm glad you like it! And if you're a fan of V/M, stick around. ^_^  
  
Ana: Thanks for the continued support! Yeah, Knives dropping his 'guard' is important in the later chapters. I'm glad people are already picking up on that.   
  
~  
  
Next time: Chocolate cake, tantrums, and discipline. (Uber-short chapter coming up, more like an added 'bonus' chapter than anything else.)  
  
~ 


	6. Chocolate cake, tantrums, and discipline

Disclaimer: I don't own Trigun, I'm just borrowing it for awhile. Trigun is property of Yasuhiro Nightow, Mad House, Pioneer, and whoever else was smart enough to get a piece of the action. I just know I wasn't. T_T  
  
"..." is talking  
  
'...' is thinking  
  
-----------------  
  
A Glimpse of Eden  
  
-----------------  
  
Chapter - 5  
  
~  
  
"I said no. You can have a piece tomorrow, Locke." Meryl said firmly, and lifted the cake a bit higher, further out of the small boy's reach.  
  
"But I want it!" Locke whined, hopping from one foot to the other in excitement, his hands stretching up toward the cake.  
  
Ignoring his pleading blue eyes, she turned and placed the cake on a shelf, out of his reach, and then walked over and sat down at the kitchen table. Earlier in the day, she had baked the cake as a surprise, but the boy had found it hidden in the cupboard while he was searching for some crackers and he hadn't stopped pestering her about it since.  
  
Picking up a crayon, she started drawing on a piece of paper, hoping the boy would forget about the cake and rejoin her at the table. A scrapping noise drew her attention away from the red-coated stick figure she had been making and she twisted around in her seat to find Locke dragging a chair over to the shelf, his eyes focused on the cake.  
  
"Locke!" she jumped out of her chair and hurried over to the boy, who was already climbing onto the chair in an effort to reach the baked good. "I said no!" she repeated, more firmly than before. Wrapping her arms tightly around him, she carried him back to the table and deposited him in a chair. "Now be good and play with your crayons, okay?"  
  
"No! I want cake, Meryl," he pleaded, pointing toward the shelf. "Please?"  
  
"And I said no," she replied through gritted teeth, trying to control her temper. "I made it for tomorrow. You can have a piece then."  
  
Sticking his bottom lip out in a pout, he crossed his arms and glared at the crayons in front of him, as if contemplating his next move. Warily, she sat back down in her chair, wishing that she had never made the cake in the first place.  
  
The door slid open and Knives walked in, carrying an empty coffee mug in one hand and a notebook in the other. With a happy squeal, Locke hopped out of his chair and ran over to him, bouncing around in his excitement.  
  
"Knives!" Locke shouted in greeting, tugging at the older Plants' pant leg, "Can I have a piece of cake?"  
  
"No!" she said at the same time Knives shrugged and absently muttered, "Sure."  
  
With a frustrated sigh, she watched Locke leave Knives' side and hurry over to stand in front of her.  
  
"Com'on, Meryl," the boy said, eagerly pulling on her hand, "give it to me."  
  
She stared down at the child in a state of disbelief. Oh, she'd give it to him alright, but it sure as hell wouldn't be a piece of cake. "Locke, I told you no. It's too close to your bedtime."  
  
He looked up at her, his eyes bright with tears. "But Knives said it was okay."  
  
Meryl threw a glare at Knives as he poured himself a cup of coffee and sat down at the table, seemingly oblivious to the mess he had caused. As Locke's whining increased in volume, he leaned back in his chair and frowned at her. "Just give him what he wants."  
  
Planting her hands against her hips, she ignored Locke's tears and focused her attention at Knives. "Are you crazy!? It's full of sugar! He'll be up all night!" she shouted, having to raise her voice in order to be heard over the boy's crying.  
  
"Than what else would you suggest?" he shouted back, irritated.  
  
She bit her lip, unsure. What would her mother have done in a situation like this? Reaching out, she grabbed hold of Locke and quickly, but firmly, smacked him on his behind. Locke's crying ceased immediately, his blue eyes widening in shock, the sudden smack surprising him out of his tantrum. Knives stood up from his seat, a look of stunned disbelief on his face.  
  
Ignoring Knives, she spoke calmly and firmly to the child. "That's enough, Locke." She noticed his eyes starting to waver toward Knives and she knelt down in front of him. "Don't look at Knives. I'm the one in charge of you, not him." Taking his chin in her hand, she tilted his head up so she could look into his eyes. "I'm not going to put up with anymore of your tantrums, Locke. When I tell you to do something I expect you to obey me, not go to whining to Knives to try to get what you want, understand?"  
  
Blinking back tears, he nodded. "Yes, Meryl."  
  
Wiping away the remaining traces of tears on his face with her thumb, she stood up and placed her hand gently on his shoulder. "Now I want you to clean up your crayons. It's past your bedtime."  
  
"Yes, Meryl," he said, and moved to comply.  
  
Knives sat back down in his chair, upset by what had just happened. "Was that really necessary?"  
  
She glanced over to him. "What?"  
  
"Was striking the boy really necessary?" he asked, struggling to control his anger, "Or is that the human response to every problem?"  
  
Meryl frowned and shot him a look of annoyance. "I hardly 'struck' him, Knives. I barely touched him. Locke is going to have to learn that there are boundaries, that there are some things he can't get away with. And temper tantrums," she muttered, "is one of them."  
  
"All he wanted was a piece of cake. You're making too much out of this," he insisted.  
  
She walked closer to him and lowered her voice before replying, "This isn't just about cake, Knives. Locke's at the age where he's testing his limits. He was trying to play us against each other to get what he wants and I'm not going to allow that."  
  
He frowned, thinking over her words, and she continued, "It's perfectly natural. Children always try to play one parent off the other," she smiled, remembering some of the things she pulled against her parents.  
  
Knives snorted. "But we're not his parents."  
  
"No," she sighed, her voice sounding sad, "but we're the closest thing he's got."  
  
His eyes widened and he glanced over at Locke, watching quietly for a few moments as the boy tried to cram all of the crayons back into the box, before quietly asking, "Then what should we do?"  
  
Breathing a sigh of relief, she smiled. "We have to back each other up. When one of us makes a decision the other has to enforce it, no matter how much Locke whines." At his dismayed expression, she laughed. "Don't worry, Knives. Like I said, he'll grow out of it soon enough. It's just a stage kids go through."  
  
"Meryl?" Locke approached, almost hesitantly, "I'm done."  
  
"Alright then," she replied lightly, "it's time for bed."  
  
"Will you tell me a story?" he asked, a hopeful gleam in his eyes.  
  
She laughed and ruffled his hair. "If you want."  
  
Locke grinned and then reached for her hand. "Will you tell me two stories?"  
  
Meryl laughed again, and bent to gather the small boy up in her arms. "Maybe."  
  
The boy buried his face in the curve of her neck, whispering words to her too low for Knives to hear, and wrapped his arms around her neck, pulling himself closer into her embrace. The girl brushed a kiss across his brow and ran her fingers lightly through his hair, murmuring in low, soothing tones.   
  
Knives dropped his gaze to his cup, feeling a sharp pang of... envy? Longing? He wasn't sure. Sometimes he found himself wishing that the boy was as affectionate with him as he was with the girl, but then he would always hurriedly dismiss the idea. Open displays of affection, or any type of emotion for that matter, just wasn't part of who he was. Not anymore.  
  
"Have you said good night to Knives yet, Locke?" Meryl asked, drawing Knives' attention back to the pair. Bending down slightly, she shifted Locke slightly and allowed the boy to lean forward and wrap his arms around Knives' neck in a quick hug.  
  
"Good night, Knives!" the boy chirped happily, before releasing his grip and grinning down at the stunned Plant.  
  
A light chuckle drew Knives' attention from the boy to the girl who held him. Smiling, she straightened and met his shocked gaze with her amused one. "Good night, Knives," she said firmly, "and don't be late for breakfast tomorrow."  
  
-----------------  
  
End chapter 5  
  
~  
  
Magnet-Rose: I'm sure Knives will, in a couple more chapters anyway. Thanks for reviewing!  
  
Yma: Vash will enter into the fic soon enough. I wanted to save his entrance for something good. Glad you're enjoying the fic!   
  
Neptune Butterfly: Right now, Meryl and Knives are still trying to get used to each other's presence to trust the other that much. Knives especially. I mean, he's not exactly fond of humans and having to trust one will take some time. ^_^  
  
WW: Thank you! I hope I'm not making Locke too cute... lol  
  
Taedere-Belletrist: I'm not really rushing, this fic is almost finished on my end. I'm working on the last two chapters now, in fact. So glad you like my fic!  
  
Jeril Dragonsoul: Wow, you've been busy. Thanks for reviewing all the previous chapters. I'm guessing you're a major fan of Knives. Oh, and it's Lock with a silent e. I guess I should have mentioned that, eh? ^_^  
  
angelarms: Thanks! I'm glad you're still enjoying my fic. And Vash will come... I promise.  
  
EmpressGalaxia: Yes, I was rather worried about my Meryl in the earlier chapters myself. I wanted to make her more calm (since this takes place a couple years after Trigun I thought she'd have mellowed a little) but then I was afraid I'd calmed her too much. Right now, she's still rather afraid of Knives, but once she realizes that he isn't going to suddenly snap and kill her or something, she'll start acting more like her old self. I'll just say, that once things settle down and he gets more used to her, one of Knives' favorite activities is going to be pushing Meryl's buttons.   
  
~  
  
Next time: Um... it's the chapter before chapter 7! Actually, I think chapter 6 isn't as good as the previous chapters, and in no way is it as good as that chapters that follow. I wrote it just before I took a break from my fic and watched a marathon of Trigun (all 26 episodes in a row!) to renew myself, so I was kinda on empty when I wrote it. Chapter 6 does set up the following three chapters, though. And hey, Vash is sure to be in those three somewhere...  
  
~ 


	7. Anger and an apology?

Disclaimer: I don't own Trigun, I'm just borrowing it for awhile. Trigun is property of Yasuhiro Nightow, Mad House, Pioneer, and whoever else was smart enough to get a piece of the action. I just know I wasn't. T_T  
  
"..." is talking  
  
'...' is thinking  
  
Okay, this takes place a couple months after the last chapter, so Locke's a little older now. He's seven months, so he looks about 6 1/2 years old now.  
  
-----------------  
  
A Glimpse of Eden  
  
-----------------  
  
Chapter - 6  
  
~  
  
"Locke, settle down. Don't move around so much," Meryl chided, but couldn't keep from smiling at the boy . He was so excited he could barely sit still. She bent back down and finished tying his shoe. Then, getting to her feet, she held out her hand. "Okay, Locke. Time to go."   
  
The boy jumped out of his chair and griped her hand tightly, pulling her toward the door. "Hurry, Meryl! Before Knives changes his mind!"   
  
She laughed and allowed him to lead her down the hall. Knives had promised the boy to take him to meet the ship's Plant today, and the boy was excited. Not just at meeting another one of his kind, but also at the idea of spending the rest of the day with Knives. The boy adored Knives. Whenever she took Locke to visit him in the computer room he would always try to climb on Knives' lap as he worked and generally get in the older Plant's way. And even though Knives frequently complained about not getting any work done, she knew he enjoyed the boy's visits and maybe even looked forward to them. There was a special bond between them. They looked, and acted, like brothers.  
  
Upon entering the computer room Locke released her hand and launched himself at Knives. "I'm here, Knives! Let's go!"   
  
Knives frowned slightly as he watched the small boy cling to his leg. "Well, I'm not ready yet. You'll have to wait awhile longer."  
  
Meryl grinned as she watched Knives try to pry the boy's arms from around his leg. They were so cute together. She almost forgot that Knives was a maniacal killer bent on the destruction of mankind. Almost, but not quite.  
  
"But Meryl said it was time." Locke released his grip on Knives to point a finger in Meryl's direction.  
  
Knives turned to glare at her.  
  
"Hey," she began, putting her hands up in defense, "you're the one that said to bring him after his afternoon nap."  
  
He glanced at the clock. Was it already that late? "But I still have some work to finish before I can take him."  
  
"What kind of work?" she asked, glancing around the cramped room.  
  
"I have to monitor that computer's readouts. I'm running scans on some data." He ran his fingers through his hair, a habit Knives had when he was tired, irritated, or when he was deep in thought. He had been doing it alot lately.  
  
"Is that all? No problem, Knives. You can take him now and I'll watch the computer for you," she generously offered, and walked over to the computer he had indicated.  
  
He laughed. "You? Please... what do you know about operating computers?"  
  
"I know some. My father taught me." She leaned over the computer and studied the screen. "All I have to do is run scans on all these files, right?"   
  
He nodded. "You can do that?" he asked, sounding doubtful.  
  
She crossed her arms, her right eyebrow twitching slighty. Did he think she was an idiot? "Of course!"  
  
"Well..." He looked torn between his promise to Locke and his concern that she would mess something up. "Alright. But be careful. We won't be long."  
  
She watched them leave the room together and then plunked down in the chair Knives had vacated. Turning to the computer she clicked the mouse and started the next scan. She had a feeling it was going to be a long day.  
  
~  
  
Knives smiled and breathed a sigh of relief. He had been slightly worried that the Plant Angel's physical appearance would scare the boy, but he needn't have worried. Locke had shyly approached the bulb and smiled at the Plant Angel before turning to Knives and asking to teach him how to talk to her, relieving his fears immediately.  
  
Instructing the boy to place his hands on the bulb, Knives knelt down behind Locke and placed his own hands over the boy's. He would need to guide the boy the first time, but after a little practice Locke would be able to talk to the Plant on his own.  
  
"Relax, Locke. Don't try so hard. Just open your mind. It will come," he said gently, sensing the boy's tension.  
  
The boy relaxed against Knives and closed his eyes, allowing Knives to lead him.  
  
"I can hear her, Knives!" Locke yelled excitedly after a few minutes, opening his eyes and breaking the connection. "Oh... I lost her, Knives."  
  
Knives had to laugh at Locke's dejected expresion. "It's alright, Locke. We have plenty of time. We'll try again."  
  
Locke closed his eyes again and relaxed, determined to get it right and make Knives proud of him.  
  
~  
  
Meryl slumped in the seat, a leg carelessly thrown over the arm of the chair. The computer emited a low beep, letting her know another scan had just finished and, without looking, she stuck out a finger and hit the button to begin yet another scan. How did Knives do this all day? He was always digging through books, or studying maps, or typing on the computer... it was all so boring. The only time she ever saw him not working was when he was eating. In fact, she rarely saw him leave the computer room or the library lately except to come to the dining area to eat. He needed a vacation. Or a life.  
  
'I wonder what the Plant room is like?' That was one of the rooms she wasn't allowed in. Knives had told her never to enter that room, that it was 'off limits' to her kind. 'I guess he's worried I'll taint the Plant with my presence or something.'  
  
She was startled out of her thoughts when one of the computers located in the back of the room screeched an alarm and flashed a 'WARNING' on it's screen.  
  
She raced over to the computer and stared at the screen in horror.  
  
'Warning? Warning for what?' She hit a few buttons on the keyboard.   
  
Something had gone wrong and one of the systems was crashing. It was for the life support.   
  
'Crap!' She had better get Knives. She left the room and raced toward the room where the Plant was kept.  
  
She stopped right outside the door, unsure of whether or not to go in. Knives had told her never to enter... but this was an emergency, surely he would understand. Taking a deep breath she punched the button on the panel to open the door and stepped inside...  
  
~  
  
Meryl glanced around the room. It was huge, with monitors and panels along both sides of the walls. At the other end of the room was Knives and Locke. They were both huddled together next to a huge glass bulb. 'I guess that's it... the Plant.'  
  
She slowly walked toward Knives, hesitant to interupt him and Locke. 'Move it Meryl! This is an emergency!'  
  
She moved closer. Knives looked so peaceful, so calm. She truly hated to interupt him.  
  
"Knives..." she began.  
  
He stiffened. Opening his eyes he narrowed his gaze at her. "Get out..." It was barely a whisper.  
  
"But, Knives. The computer--"  
  
"GET OUT!!"  
  
Her eyes widened and she took a step back. Locke was startled and pulled away from Knives. He took his hands off the bulb and tried to go to Meryl, but Knives held him back.  
  
"I told you NEVER to come in here!!"   
  
She took another step back, frightened of the anger she saw in his eyes. Locke was crying for her and trying to pull free of Knives' tight grip, and she automatically reached out a hand toward him.  
  
"GET OUT OF HERE!!!"  
  
She turned and ran toward the door, her heart pounding in her chest. Once at the door she stopped and turned back. She was angry now, too.  
  
"I just came to warn you," she shouted across the room, "that the computer is crashing and the ship's life support is failing!"  
  
His eyes widened in shock, but she was already out the door and didn't notice.  
  
~  
  
"Is Knives still angry with you?"  
  
Meryl pulled the blanket up and tucked it firmly around the boy. "I guess so."  
  
"Why?" he asked.  
  
She smoothed some hair back from his forehead and smiled. "Because I disobeyed him. He told me never to go in that room and I did."  
  
"But you had to. You had to tell him about the computer," he insisted, sounding slightly aggitated about the whole thing.  
  
She sighed. Knives had fixed the system error and stopped the crash, but he had still been angry with her. "Let's not talk about that right now." She wanted to change the subject. "Did you enjoy seeing the Plant?"  
  
He brightened. "Yeah! It was great!" he frowned and released a small sigh, "Until Knives got mad."  
  
She laughed and patted his head. "Don't worry about it. Knives will get over it." She bent and kissed him goodnight.  
  
"Meryl?" he called.  
  
"Yes, Locke?" She paused at the door, hand on the light button.  
  
"Could you get Kiro for me?"  
  
She smiled. 'Kiro' was the name he had given the black stuffed cat she had made for him when she had first arrived.   
  
"Sure." She grabbed the stuffed animal off the desk and handed it to him.  
  
"Thank you." He setted down among the covers and hugged the cat close.  
  
She headed toward the door again.  
  
"Meryl?"  
  
She sighed. "Yes, Locke. What is it?"   
  
"Do you... do you think he'll be over it by breakfast?"  
  
She laughed. "Maybe. 'Night, Locke." She turned off the light and left the room.  
  
~  
  
Meryl had just settled into her own bed when she heard a light tapping on her door. She sat up and turned the light back on. Irritated, she called for the person to enter, thinking that it was Locke. It wasn't. It was Knives.   
  
She gasped and pulled the blanket closer around her as he entered, his eyes glancing around the small room. He hadn't been in there since Meryl had moved in.   
  
Entering further into the room he crossed to a chair near the bed and gracefully seated himself. He crossed his arms over his chest and looked at the girl. She was staring at him, surprise evident in her eyes at his unexpected visit.  
  
"How is Locke? Is he still upset?" Knives knew he had scared the boy and it bothered him. He hadn't meant to, but sometimes he just couldn't control his emotions.  
  
"He's fine." Her answer was short and curt. Was she mad at him? He leaned back in the chair, confused. What possible reason could she have to be angry at him?  
  
He cleared his throught. "I... uh... I fixed the system." Why was he stuttering? He wished she would stop staring at him like that. He tried again. "I... shouldn't have yelled at you like that. You were right to have come to warn me about the crash."   
  
Meryl stared at him, her mouth slightly agape. Was he... trying to apologize?   
  
He abrupty stood, looking irritated and uncertain. He ran his fingers through his short blonde hair and looked away from her.   
  
"Can you be ready to go by tomorrow morning?" She blinked at his question. Was he kicking her out? At her silence he returned his gaze to her. "You had mentioned a couple of months ago that you wanted to go and buy clothes for yourself and Locke. I'm asking if you would be ready to leave in the morning. There's something I need to take care of in town anyway." Was this some kind of... peace offering?  
  
"You'll take me back to Spring!?" Her eyes widened in hope.  
  
"Do you take me for a fool?" he snapped, "I'll take you to Garrison. It's closer." She leaned back against her pillows in disappointment. "You no longer wish to go?"  
  
"No, no!" she shouted, nearly falling off the bed. "I'll go! I'll go! I'll have Locke and myself ready to go after breakfast!"  
  
"Good." He headed toward the door to leave.  
  
"Knives!"   
  
He paused at the open door and turned back to her. "Yes?"  
  
"Thank you," she smiled, truly thankful.  
  
His eyes widened slightly at her words, then he nodded and left the room.  
  
-----------------  
  
End chapter 6  
  
~  
  
Anonymous: Aw, thanks!  
  
angelarms: To truly appreciate the glory that is Trigun, the episodes must be watched back-to-back. It's the only way! Plus, watching the Rem episode at one in the morning when you're dead tired is a head trip. All the philosophy and symbolism...wow.  
  
WW: Yeah, I thought the hug would be a nice touch. Glad you liked it. ^_^  
  
trapt-tears: Ah, thank you for the kind words! I'm glad that my spelling and grammer are holding up alright. I, too, find that mistakes in spelling and grammer can completely ruin a story, so I work hard at making sure everything I post is free of such errors.   
  
EvilChibiRuler: I never could resist puppy-faces. Thanks for the review!  
  
Arika*: Thanks for reviewing! And I hope you liked the other chapters, too.  
  
Ana: Whew, for a second there I'd thought I'd lost you. It felt kinda weird updating without you having reviewed the previous chapter. lol  
  
Yma: Thank you! Yeah, I kinda thought Locke would be a little whiny and, with Knives probably giving him whatever he wants whenever he wants it, just a bit spoiled. I didn't want to make the child too perfect and cute. The next three (four, including this one) chapters are all connected, and even though I wasn't too pleased with this chapter, I am pleased with how I handled the next three chapters. Like I had mentioned in the previous chapter, a marathon of Trigun can do wonders. ^_^  
  
~  
  
Next time: Knives takes Meryl and Locke into town. Nothing can possibly go wrong, can it? *evil laughter*  
  
~ 


	8. Altercation in town part 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Trigun, I'm just borrowing it for awhile. Trigun is property of Yasuhiro Nightow, Mad House, Pioneer, and whoever else was smart enough to get a piece of the action. I just know I wasn't. T_T  
  
"..." is talking  
  
'...' is thinking  
  
Author's note: I finished writing this fic earlier this week, but today I thought up an idea for a new chapter (which I'm writing now) and since I don't know which chapters I'm going to insert it between, the chapter after this may take a little longer to post up. I'm sorry... please, don't hate me... _  
  
-----------------  
  
A Glimpse of Eden  
  
-----------------  
  
Chapter - 7  
  
~  
  
"Where are we going, Meryl?" Locke asked, absently running a hand over his now-short and spiky hair.  
  
Scraping some scrambled eggs out of the frying pan and onto a plate, Meryl placed it on the table in front of Locke. "Into town. We need to buy some clothes and things."  
  
"Oh..." He forked some eggs into his mouth. "Is Knives coming with us?"  
  
"Don't talk with your mouth full, and yes, Knives is coming with us. He's driving."  
  
Locke carefully chewed and swallowed before asking his next question. "What's a town like? Will there be lots of people there?"  
  
Meryl sat down with her own plate. "Well... a town has alot of buildings, like stores and inns and houses. And yes, it has 'lots' of people."  
  
She raised a forkfull of eggs to her mouth but stopped in surprise when Knives entered the room. He was wearing a pair of black jeans and his form-fitting, white button-down shirt had been left untucked. A long black leather coat and a pair of black work boots completed his ensemble. He caught her shocked expression and frowned.  
  
"What?" He glanced down at himself and brushed absentmindedly at his shirt. "Is there something wrong?"  
  
"No, no... it's just that..." she trailed off. His appearance had taken her completely by surprise. She was used to seeing him in his usual outfit, that grey and red jumpsuit thing he always wore. To see him dressed so normal was... weird.  
  
He ran his fingers through his hair and gave her a confused look. "'It's just what?'"  
  
She blushed and looked down. "I'm just not used to seeing you dressed like that," she finished lamely.  
  
He came over and sat down next to Locke at the table and Meryl jumped up to fix his plate. She needed to give herself something to do. His appearance had really disarmed her. When he was dressed in his normal outfit she thought of him only as Vash's brother, the man who had caused Vash so much suffering. But now she was painfully aware at how physically attractive the man was and just how much he resembled Vash. He was lean but well-muscled, and his new clothes only helped to accentuate his body.  
  
She carried the plate over and set it down in front of Knives. Keeping her eyes downcast she moved back to her chair and sat down. She could feel Knives' questioning gaze on the top of her head but she ignored it. Finally, he turned his attention to Locke and she resumed eating.  
  
"What's this? You cut his hair?" He reached out and fingered a strand of Locke's newly cut blonde hair.  
  
She glanced up in surprise. "Don't you think I should have? It was getting pretty long after all."   
  
He ran his hand over Locke's short hair slowly, his expression thoughtful. "No, it's fine I suppose." He returned his attention back to his plate.  
  
Meryl watched him add salt to his eggs and take a bite before she released the breath she had been holding. She had half expected Knives to threaten and berate her about how she hadn't asked his permission before going ahead and trimming Locke's hair. Maybe... after all these months he was finally changing, becoming less controlling and more tolerant towards her.  
  
"Meryl..."  
  
"Yes, Knives?"  
  
"Do something like this again without my permission and see what I'll do to you."   
  
She signed. Or maybe, he had just paused to think up a good threat.  
  
She had a feeling it was going to be a long and difficult day.  
  
~  
  
They arrived in the town of Garrison after a long and difficult car ride. Knives had been quiet the entire way and Meryl had been kept busy trying to answer a million of Locke's questions. He seemed to have a question about everything, and Meryl tried to be patient and answer them all but...  
  
"What's that, Meryl?"  
  
She sighed. Following Locke's pointing finger she replied, "It's a thomas."  
  
"What's it for?" he asked, his brow crinkled in thought.  
  
"It's an animal used for transportation," she said simply.  
  
"You ride on top of it?" he asked, a look of interest on his face.  
  
"It's like a horse." Knives cut in. "Remember? From that book I showed you?"  
  
"Oh..." Locke looked over at the thomas' odd appearance. "It looks funny."  
  
Meryl grabbed Locke's hand and pulled him out of the street and toward a store, Knives following silently behind them. Entering the store she released Locke's hand and turned toward Knives.  
  
"You can wait outside." She waved her hands at him in a shoo-ing motion. "I can handle this."  
  
"Hurry and buy what you need." He crossed his arms, irritated. "We don't have all day."  
  
Holding back a biting retort, she walked to the counter and greeted the clerk.  
  
"Good morning, Miss. What can get for you today?"  
  
She produced the list Knives had made out. "We need these things," she handed the clerk the list, "and I also need to buy some clothes."  
  
The clerk glanced over the list and nodded. "I think I have everything on here."  
  
Locke came over and shyly smiled at the man.   
  
"And who's this?" The clerk leaned over the counter to smile at the boy. Glancing up at Meryl he asked, "Your son?"  
  
Meryl sputtered in indignation. Surely she didn't look that old. She was barely in her mid 20s!   
  
Not noticing Meryl's outraged reaction he spoke down to Locke. "How old are you, son?"  
  
Locke looked at the floor and shyly replied, "Seven."  
  
"Seven years old, huh? Well, here... have a treat on me." The man handed Locke a sucker.  
  
As Locke politely thanked the man, Meryl smiled fondly at the boy. When he had said 'seven' he hadn't meant years, he had meant months.   
  
"Is there a gunsmith shop around here?" Meryl stiffened as Knives came up behind her and addressed the clerk.  
  
"Yes, sir. There's one across the street and a couple doors down."  
  
"Thank you." he paused and then spoke down to Meryl. "Will you... be alright alone?"  
  
She glanced up, surprised. She finally managed a nod and he handed her a roll of money.   
  
"No need to worry," spoke up the clerk, grinning knowingly at her and Knives, "I'll take good care of your wife."  
  
'Wife!?' Meryl choked and blushed furiously, trying to think of a response to the man's comment.  
  
"Thank you," Knives smiled politely at the man, "I'm sure my 'wife' will be in very good hands." He turned and grinned cheerfully down at Meryl, pretending to be a happy and caring husband. His eyes danced with cold humor and Meryl had to resist the urge to wrap her hands around his throat and throttle him. Any retort she might have come up with was cut short when Knives abruptly turned and walked toward the exit.   
  
"Hey! Just where are you going? I'm not through with you! Get back here!" she yelled across the store and shook a fist at Knives' retreating back. Stopping at the threshold, he glanced back toward an angry and extremely irritated Meryl.  
  
"When you're done here, meet me across the street and we'll have lunch at the bar." Not bothering to wait for a reply, he raised a hand in farewell and continued out of the store, quickly disappearing from her sight.  
  
She crossed her arms and forced herself to calm down. Knives certainly had a warped sense of humor.   
  
Her eyes widened as she realized what had just occured. Knives had just left her alone.   
  
'Does he... finally believe my promise not to run away?'  
  
Smiling, she turned back to the counter to look through the store's clothing selection.  
  
~  
  
Meryl watched the clerk write up the final bill. It would eat up much of the money Knives had left her, but they had needed alot of things. She had bought clothes for Locke and herself and the other things Knives had written down. She had also bought extra clothes that were too large for Locke now but that he would grow into. With her not knowing when she would get to town again she felt she had better.   
  
"It will take a while for me to wrap all your purchases." The clerk handed her the change. "But when you're done with your meal come back and I'll have everything ready for you."  
  
"Thank you." She took Locke's hand and walked outside.   
  
Scanning the street she quickly located the bar Knives had mentioned. Holding Locke's hand tighter she crossed the street and entered the building. Inside she found Knives, quietly sitting at a table looking over a menu.  
  
"Did you get everything?" he asked, not looking up from the menu.  
  
"Yes, thank you." She handed him the change, which he took without comment. "It cost more than I had thought, but we have plenty of supplies now."  
  
She sat at the table in the chair directly across from his and opened a menu, glancing over the choices. When the waiter approached she was still trying to decide between the spaghetti or the meatloaf. Knives pulled the menu out of her hands and ordered for them all.  
  
"We'll have the veal." The waiter nodded and left.  
  
"Knives! I can order for myself!" She raised her hand to try and get the waiter's attention.  
  
He reached across the table and pulled her hand down. "You'll have the veal and like it," he said tersely, his eyes narrowed.  
  
She frowned. He may have shown that he trusted her slightly by leaving her unsupervised for a few minutes, but he was showing her that he was still in complete control. She crossed her arms and decided to ignore him.  
  
He frowned, slightly surprised and disapointed that she hadn't argued with him. He found that he quite enjoyed verbally sparing with the girl and that watching her get angry or irritated over his comments was extremely amusing.  
  
The waiter brought their food and drinks and then departed. They ate in silence, listening to the steady hum of conversation going on around them.   
  
"Meryl..." Locke tugged on her arm. "I need a napkin."  
  
She looked around the table for one, but the waiter had apparently forgotten to bring any.  
  
"Don't worry, I'll go and get us some." She stood and made her way over to the bar to ask for some, aware that many of the bar's male customers were now watching her. She heard some whispered comments and blushed, conscious of the fact that she no longer had her derringers for protection.   
  
Grabbing a handful of napkins from off the counter, she turned to head back to the table and was surprised to find Knives standing directly in front of her, blocking her way. Casting a narrowed glance around the room, he took the napkins from her with one hand and then lightly brushed a finger across her cheek with his other. Surprised, her blush deepened.  
  
"Knives... what are you...!?"  
  
Silencing her with a look, he took hold of her upper-arms and roughly pulled her against him, her head ending up resting on his chest. He then aimed a dark glare at the crowd of men gathered at the bar who had only moments before been openly leering at Meryl. His meaning was clear. She belonged to him.   
  
The men returned their attention back to their drinks and Knives abruptly released her and walked back to their table. Plunking back down in his seat, he handed a napkin to Locke and casually resumed eating. Meryl self-consciously made her way back to their table and sat down.  
  
"And just what was... that about!?" she asked, trying hard to remain calm.  
  
He glanced up, taking note of her clenched fists and angry glare. "I was merely demonstrating to those men that you weren't to be bothered. Was that wrong?"  
  
"You could have done it some other way!"  
  
He blinked. "I could have. But I chose the most effective way."  
  
"But... that was embarassing!" she squeeked out, her right eyebrow starting to twitch.  
  
"Why?" he asked innocently.  
  
"Because... because you made it look like you... and that I... argh! It just was!" Standing up, she took Locke's hand and made for the exit. She had the feeling that if she didn't leave right now, her lunch might very well end up all over Knives' fat head.  
  
"Hey, Meryl!"  
  
She turned and glared at him. He had that smug look on his face, obviously pleased with himself at having made her lose her temper. "What!?"   
  
"Where are you going?" he asked with a hint of amusement.  
  
She paused, a look of momentary confusion on her face. Where was she going? He had upset her so much she had forgotten where she was headed. Oh, yeah...  
  
"I'm going to see if the supplies are ready!" she yelled, having to bite her tongue to keep herself calling him an obscenity.  
  
"Oh, alright. I'll meet you outside the gunsmith's when you're done." He waved the waiter over for the bill.  
  
Seething, she marched out of the bar with Locke in tow. How dare that man embarass her like that! She walked across the street and into the store, determined that when she came out again she would have her anger under control. That, or she would punch Knives right in his smug face and to hell with the consequences!  
  
~  
  
Meryl placed the last package in the car's trunk and then slammed it shut. She had calmed down since leaving the bar, but she was still bothered by what had happened. Not so much at what Knives had done, but at her own reaction to his touch.   
  
She reached up a hand to lightly touch her check. What was wrong with her lately? First she practically drools at the man during breakfast, and now here she was all upset and giddy over a simple touch. She blushed. Why did he have such an affect on her?   
  
Knives was the man who had killed thousands, perhaps millions if you counted the Great Fall, and dreamed of the day when he could finish off the rest. And even though he himself hadn't pulled the trigger, he was also responsible for the death of Wolfwood. She could feel the tears forming as she recalled that horrible day.   
  
Vash had come in with tears in his eyes, brokenly whispering that he had something to tell her and Milly, and then he had sat down at the table, looking every bit of his 130 years. Between his tears, he had finally managed to say that Wolfwood had been shot. Milly had gone pale and then started for the door, asking where Wolfwood was now and how badly had he been hit. Vash didn't answer, his crying deepening into huge sobs that racked his lean body, his grief tearing at Meryl's heart.   
  
Then Milly had understood, her light blue eyes widening in shock before she collapsed on the floor in grief. Meryl had found herself torn between comforting the man she loved and her best friend. In the end, she had gone to Milly, helping the girl to her room and staying with her until she had cried herself to sleep. Only then had she gone to be with Vash, but by then he was gone.   
  
He had returned by morning, saying only that he had taken care of Wolfwood, and that had been it. All attempts by Meryl to talk to either of them about Wolfwood afterward was met by empty smiles by both Milly and Vash. Milly saying that she would be alright and Vash not willing to discuss it at all. She had never learned the name of the man responsible for killing Wolfwood, but she was sure that it had been one of Knives' followers, one of the Gung Ho Guns. She had truly hated Knives then, for causing so much pain to her friends.   
  
When Vash had later bought Knives to their home to be cared for after their battle, Meryl had been against it. She had expected Milly to side with her, but the girl had been all for Knives staying with them. When Meryl had later asked her why, Milly had simply answered that Knives was Vash's brother and that he needed their help and that had been the end of the discussion. Knives had moved into the spare room and Vash and Milly took turns changing his bandages and feeding and caring for him.   
  
She had gotten out of the chore by saying that since she worked two jobs she simply didn't have the time to babysit Knives. It had been true, she was busy with her jobs, but the look in Vash's eyes had almost broken her heart. He looked so hurt and disappointed by her words. He had almost immediately cheered up and said that he was proud of how hard she was working, but she knew that he had been upset to learn that she wasn't interested in helping his brother to recover.  
  
When Knives had left after almost a year of living with them she had wanted to celebrate, but seeing how hurt Vash was that he couldn't change his brother's beliefs had kept her quiet. She had thought they were free of Knives forever, but now, here she was not only living with him again but helping him to raise a child as well.  
  
She wondered, not for the first time, how Milly and Vash were. She wondered if Vash had ever come back at all. Milly had probably gone looking for her, but after so many months she was sure the girl had given up.  
  
"Meryl, there's Knives." Locke's words interupted her thoughts and she turned to look down the street. Knives was standing on the sidewalk, just outside of the gunsmith shop.   
  
When he caught her gaze he signaled for her to come before he turned his attention to the holster he now wore around his waist. As she watched him adjust the straps, she tensed in apprehension. Knives, with a weapon. This was not good.  
  
She held Locke's hand tightly as she hurried toward him. Maybe if she could get him out of town before he randomly started shooting people everything would be okay.   
  
Halfway to Knives, a large man stumbled out of the saloon and into her path, cursing loudly about the brightness of the suns. He turned and saw her, his eyes leering down at her through stringy dark hair.   
  
Her grip on Locke's hand tightened even more and she stepped off the sidewalk and into the street to avoid having to pass too closely to the drunken man. She once again headed toward Knives but was stopped when a dirty and sweaty hand grabbed her wrist. Dragging her close to him, the man's lecherous gaze traveled over her small but shapely body. She recoiled and tried to pull away, but the man's grip only tightened. Crying out in pain, she released Locke, and tried to pry her wrist free from his grasp with her other hand.  
  
She shut her eyes tightly as the man leaned down toward her, so close she could feel his alcohol tainted breath stirring her bangs. Then suddenly, she heard the man grunt in pain and her wrist was free. Opening her eyes, she saw that Knives now stood between her and her attacker.  
  
And he looked pissed.  
  
~  
  
Meryl held Locke close to her body, trying to shield him from what was happening. Her attacker lifted a shocked hand to his face, surprised that anyone would dare to strike him. His eyes narrowed in anger as his hand came away covered in blood. Pulling his weapon from his holster, he swung around to aim it at Knives... and looked straight down the barrel of Knives' revolver. The man's eyes now widened in fear as he dropped his gun and raised his hands in surrender.  
  
"Don't kill me! I didn't know she was your woman! Please, I promise not to bother her again! I swear!" The man broke down into sobs. Ignoring the man's now weaponless state, Knives cocked the hammer of his gun and aimed it squarely between the man's eyes.  
  
"Knives, don't! Please, don't kill him!" Meryl cried out as she clutched Locke even closer. She didn't want him to see Knives kill someone in cold blood.  
  
"Shut up! Don't you dare plead to me for this pathetic fool's life!" Knives eyes took on a wild look and sweat beaded his forehead. His voice was raised an octave higher than usual and his breath was coming in quick gasps.  
  
Meryl's eyes widened as she realized what was happening. 'This is it... this is the Knives that wiped out thousands and tried to kill his own brother...'   
  
"Stop that blubbering! At least have the decency to die like a man!" Knives lashed out and kicked the man hard in the face, breaking his nose and shattering teeth. Placing his boot on the man's neck he coldly re-aimed his gun and sneered down at him.   
  
Meryl closed her eyes and held Locke closer as he buried his face in Meryl's chest. The small crowd that had gathered held it's collective breath and the only sound heard was Knives' harsh breathing, until--  
  
'Click...'  
  
The sound of a gun's hammer being cocked cut through the silence. Knives' aim never wavered, but he began to laugh in a way that sent shivers up Meryl's back.  
  
"So, Brother... you finally came. I knew you would eventually." Meryl's eyes shot open at Knives' words. 'Brother!?'  
  
Her eyes frantically searched the crowd until they focused on a tall blonde man holding a gun that was aimed directly at Knives' head. It was Vash the Stampede, and Meryl had never seen him look so angry.   
  
Or so deadly.  
  
-----------------  
  
End chapter 7  
  
~  
  
angelarms: I wasn't really satisfied with the previous chapter, but I'm glad you liked it. I had to figure out a way to get Knives to take Meryl and Locke to town, and an 'apology' seemed like the best way.  
  
Yma: Heh, I made you dread what was going to happen? I hope this chapter met with your expectations. And please, update your fic soon. I'm dying to know what happens next. ^_^  
  
Neptune Butterfly: *giggles insanely* Your reviews are always so much fun to read. I hope you found this chapter exciting, and as for Knives and Meryl's relationship... keep reading, things may soon begin changing.  
  
trapt-tears: He's illegaly downloading porn. No, I'm kidding! Knives is always working on ways to improve his equipment and data, and it's also been his excuse to avoid Meryl. When is the 'I'm-still-a-maniacal-killer' part of Knives coming out? Ummm... *points above* I think it's just happened...  
  
~  
  
There! I gave you guys Vash! I also gave you guys a cliffhanger. *dodges rocks*  
  
Next time: The continuation of this chapter. What will happen between the two brothers!? Has Knives totally snapped or can something be done to head off the seemingly inevitable!? Or will Vash have to shoot Knives... again!?   
  
Feedback, I crave it. So, please review and let me know if you liked this chapter. ^_^v  
  
~ 


	9. Altercation in town part 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Trigun, I'm just borrowing it for awhile. Trigun is property of Yasuhiro Nightow, Mad House, Pioneer, and whoever else was smart enough to get a piece of the action. I just know I wasn't. T_T  
  
"..." is talking  
  
'...' is thinking  
  
This chapter is really short, but it gets the job done. ^_^  
  
-----------------  
  
A Glimpse of Eden  
  
-----------------  
  
Chapter - 8  
  
~  
  
Vash's eyes narrowed as he tightened his grip on his gun. "Knives! You gave me your word!"  
  
Knives smiled and turned his head slightly to observe his brother better. "And what if I did?"  
  
Vash tensed at the disturbed glint in his brother's eyes. Knives was close to completely losing it, if he hadn't already. Knives turned his full attention back to the man cowering under him.  
  
"Look at him, Vash! A complete waste of life. He's pathetic, even for a human."  
  
Vash's eyes narrowed even more. "Back down, Knives! Or I promise you..." he trailed off and his face hardened with quiet determination.   
  
A tense moment passed, as each brother tried to figure out which one had the advantage. Vash had the drop on Knives, but he wouldn't endanger the townspeople and Knives had one directly at the end of his gun. The crowd began to stir slightly, convinced that the tense standoff would soon end in bloodshed. Another moment passed, and then Knives tightened his grip on his gun, his mind made up, and then--  
  
"Knives..." His eyes widened slightly, the softly spoken words somehow managing to cut through his rage-filled thoughts. "Please, put the gun down. Don't... don't do this!" His eyes flickered to his right and he saw Meryl, tears in her eyes, standing beside him.  
  
"Don't... don't waste your tears on this fool," he rasped, his boot pressing down harder on the man's throat, effectively cutting off his air.   
  
Vash's whole body tensed, he had to do something now! 'Meryl... get out of the way...'  
  
Meryl placed her small hand on Knives' arm and felt his muscles tense at her touch, but he didn't pull away. "I'm not crying for him, Knives... I'm crying for you."   
  
Her words seemed to remove the fight from of his body and Knives lowered his gun completely and allowed the man to scurry away. He turned toward Meryl, his shocked eyes searching her face.  
  
Vash lowered his own gun and breathed a sigh of relief. Holstering his weapon he cautiously made his way toward his brother. His eyes focused on Meryl, relieved to see her safe and well. His eyes then shifted to his brother and he watched as Knives holstered his weapon and glared down at Meryl.  
  
"I thought I told you not to interfere." His voice was calm and controlled, his rage from a moment earlier seemingly forgotten.  
  
Meryl raised an arm and wiped her face on her sleeve. "You jerk! Did you just think I was gonna stand by and...," her voice cracked from the strain and she finished brokenly, "... watch you kill someone?"   
  
His eyes softened and he sighed, "You've been around my brother too long."   
  
"I guess I'll have to take that as a compliment," spoke up an all too-familiar voice that caused Meryl's heart to flutter.  
  
Looking past Knives, she caught sight of Vash standing a few feet away. Her eyes widening, she took a few hesitant steps toward him. "Vash? Is that... really you?"  
  
Holding back tears, all Vash could manage was a small nod. With a small cry, she launched herself at him and wrapped her arms around his waist, hugging him tightly. He put his arms around her and hugged her back, relieved that she was alright. When Milly had told him that Meryl had disapeared he had assumed the worst and then seeing her with Knives had only added to his fears. Now that he knew she was fine...   
  
His eyes filled with tears and he held her closer. 'I'm sorry, Meryl. I'll never let anything happen to you ever again! I swear...'  
  
She pulled out of his tight embrace and smiled up at him. His heart lurched at the sight of her, she was so beautiful and so very precious to him.  
  
"Are you okay, Vash? You aren't hurt are you?" she asked, sounding concerned.  
  
"No, no. I'm fine, Meryl." He smiled down at her, happy that she was worried about him.  
  
"Good..." She reached up and smacked him on the back of the head, knocking him to the ground."... then what in the hell took you so long!?" she glared at him, her hands on her hips.  
  
Vash groaned and pulled himself up on one elbow. Yep, Meryl was just fine. "Aww, Meryl. Don't be that way." he whined. "Don't you know what I went through to find you?"  
  
A dismissive snort. "Yeah, I'm sure you scoured all the donut shops and saloons from here to Spring looking for me, right?"  
  
Pretending not to have heard her, he got to his feet, brushing the sand from his clothes. "Y'know, most girls would be thrilled that a handsome and dashing hero had come to their rescue."  
  
She scoffed. "'Handsome and dashing'? More like bumbling and idiotic! And I'll ask again, what took you so long?"  
  
"We don't have time for this!" Knives interupted. "We should get back to the ship before it gets dark."  
  
They both turned their attention to Knives. Meeting his gaze, Vash nodded in agreement.  
  
"Locke!" Meryl yelled suddenly, her hands flying to her face. In all the excitement she had forgotten about him. He was still standing where she had left him, a puzzled expression on his face. She went and put her arms around him. "I'm sorry," she whispered into his hair, "that I left you alone."  
  
Putting his arms around her waist he hugged her back. "It's okay, Meryl." He peered around her to look curiously at Vash. "Who's that?"  
  
She smiled. "Come here." Taking his hand, she lead him over to where Vash stood. Vash's eyes widened when he saw the boy. He glanced quickly at Knives who slowly nodded in response to his unspoken question.   
  
"Locke, this is Vash. Vash is Knives' brother and," she added more softly, "he's my friend."  
  
Locke studied Vash silently for a few moments before finally smiling. "Hello..." he looked down shyly and pressed back against Meryl.  
  
Vash knelt in front of the boy and smiled back gently. "Hello, Locke. It's... nice to meet you." He glanced up at Meryl, suddenly understanding why Knives had kidnapped her. He turned to look at Knives, who had been studying the interaction between him and the boy with quiet interest.  
  
"Save your questions for later, Vash." He started walking to the car. "I think it's best we go before that human I so generously spared comes back with re-enforcements."  
  
Vash stood and watched Locke hurry after Knives, the boy trying to keep pace with the older Plant's quick stride. He sighed and glanced down at Meryl's smiling face. "Well, at least you're glad to see me."  
  
Interlocking her arm with Vash's, she smiled happily up at him as they walked toward the car together.  
  
-----------------  
  
End chapter 8  
  
~  
  
Dragger: Was this soon enough? ^_^  
  
Neptune Butterfly: Heh, I'm glad Vash's presence made you so happy. And I hope you're headache is gone now that I've updated. Hmmm... Meryl and Knives... well, you'll just have to stick around and find out what I meant. The next chapter might give you a clue, though. And yes, I'll certainly try to keep you on your toes!  
  
Yma: Thank you very much! I'm glad you like Locke so much! I'm sure that Locke is kinda used to Knives and Meryl's arguments by now, but I think that if Knives ever goes too far with one of his comments... *See next chapter*  
  
Alexa: Thank you, and thank you for reviewing. Yep, and Meryl just might be growing on Knives as well.  
  
Beckira: Meryl's hair isn't as long as Rem's was, her hair is just long enough to frame her face and brush her shoulders. I don't think Meryl looks much like Rem at all, but maybe there's a slight passing resemblance. Thanks for reviewing!  
  
Ana: You are my loyal reviewer (you've been with me since the beginning) and I do love you for that, but you have to admit that was a good spot for a cliffhanger. Actually, the last chapter originally didn't end where it did, but since everyone was waiting for Vash to show up, I cut into this chapter *points up* to give him to them. Which also helps to explain why this chapter was so short.   
  
Yay! My reviews have finally hit the 50 mark! Thanks everyone!!!  
  
~  
  
Next time: Vash and Meryl fluff. Well... as close to fluff as my writing gets anyway. Plus, can Knives possibly be... jealous!? *gasp* And what happens when Knives says something he ought not have in front of Locke?   
  
~ 


	10. Reunion and revelations

Disclaimer: I don't own Trigun, I'm just borrowing it for awhile. Trigun is property of Yasuhiro Nightow, Mad House, Pioneer, and whoever else was smart enough to get a piece of the action. I just know I wasn't. T_T  
  
"..." is talking  
  
'...' is thinking  
  
Gah... I hope Vash is in character.  
  
-----------------  
  
A Glimpse of Eden  
  
-----------------  
  
Chapter - 9  
  
~  
  
Vash rested his forearms on the table and leaned forward, a cup of coffee held between his hands. "So, Knives hasn't harmed you?"  
  
Meryl shook her head. "Nope. Aside from the occasional angry outburst," she cupped her chin in her hand and smiled, "he's been a complete gentleman."  
  
They had been talking for over an hour, ever since they had returned from town. Knives had immediately stalked off with Locke upon arriving, so she and Vash had been able to sit at the kitchen table and talk over everything that had happened since they had last seen each other, almost a year ago.   
  
Meryl looked across the table at Vash and studied him as he took a sip from his cup. His hair was still in the same gravity defying style she remembered and he was dressed in a light grey shirt, a faded pair of blue jeans, and his old boots. The mid-length black coat he had been wearing before was now slung over the back of the chair next to him and his gun and holster were carelessly laying on the table to his right. As he sat there, Meryl wondered if he had any idea just how cute he was.  
  
"Meryl?" His voice interupted her thoughts and she blushed, painfully aware that she had just been caught staring.  
  
"Er... huh?" Her blush deepened under his aqua colored gaze and she hoped Vash didn't notice.  
  
"Nothing, it's just... you kinda seemed to zone out there for a minute." He grinned at her.   
  
"Um, I was just thinking... that's all." She cleared her thoat and dropped her gaze to her coffee cup. "Er... Vash? Can I ask you something?"  
  
"Sure, Meryl. What is it?"  
  
"Where were you all this time? I mean, Milly and I waited for you..." she trailed off.   
  
"I'm sorry," he murmured, his voice quieter than before, "I didn't mean to worry you girls. There was just something I needed to figure out before I came back... you understand, don't you?" He looked at her hopefully.  
  
Meryl smiled. "Of course, Vash." She frowned in thought. "How is Milly, by the way?"  
  
Vash grinned again. "She's fine. She's waiting back in Spring." He took another sip of coffee. "Y'know, she threatened to hate me forever if I didn't find you and bring you back."  
  
Meryl laughed. "To hate you, your children, and your children's children?"  
  
"Something like that. She can be scary sometimes." He laughed, then became more serious. "She went looking for you, but when she didn't find you she thought she had better go back to Spring and wait for me."   
  
"I had thought so." Good old dependable Milly.  
  
"When I arrived back in Spring she was waiting for me. When she told me about your sudden disappearance I had a feeling Knives was somehow responsible. She had wanted to come with me, but I felt it would be safer if she stayed in Spring." He dropped his eyes and fidgeted with his coffee cup. "I was so relieved to see that you were okay, that Knives hadn't hurt you."   
  
She smiled. "I'm fine, Vash. Knives needed me to care for Locke, he wouldn't have hurt me." Her eyes teared up and she lowered her head to hide them. "I've just... missed you and Milly so much."  
  
Vash reached across the table and took her hand in his. "Please don't cry, Meryl. Everything's going to be alright now, I promise."  
  
Her grip tightened in his and she smiled. "I know, Vash. I'm just glad you're here."  
  
Vash had just opened his mouth to reply when the door slid open and Knives and Locke walked in... and caught them holding hands. Meryl and Vash immediately released their grip on each other and retreated back to their own side of the table, both blushing in embarassment. Knives walked over to the stove and poured himself a cup of coffee before sitting down and joining them at the table.  
  
Leaning back in the chair, he crossed one leg over the other. "So... am I interupting anything?"  
  
Vash coughed. "Er... no, of course not. Meryl and I were just talking, that's all."   
  
Knives focused his attention on Meryl, his eyes cold. "Is that so? You must have plenty to catch up on."  
  
"Um, yeah... I was just asking about Milly." Why was he looking at her like that?  
  
Locke sat down next to Meryl and smiled up at her. "Who's Milly?"  
  
Putting an arm around him she smiled back. "A very good friend of mine."  
  
Knives turned his attention to Vash. "So Vash, what took you so long to come for the girl? Was there a kitten stuck up a tree that needed rescuing?" His tone was light but his eyes were dark with challenge.  
  
Vash ignored it. "Geez, Knives... gimme a break. I didn't even know she was missing until a week ago." He grinned. "Besides, I knew you'd take good care of her for me."  
  
"Please, Vash... spare me. The only reason she's alive and well is because she is of use to me." He paused to raise his cup to his lips. "And when she is no longer of any use she will be treated accordingly." Out of the corner of his eye, Vash noticed Locke tense and then go pale at Knives' words.   
  
Knives continued, trying to get a rise out of Vash. "Did you think, that just because she serves me now, I would treat her any differently than the rest of the human trash? Or did you think I'd completely abandoned my plans for humanity, Vash? Is that what--"  
  
The rest of Knives' sentence was cut short when Locke abruptly leapt to his feet, toppling over his chair. "Meryl's not trash and I won't let you hurt her!" He threw his arms protectively around her and glared at Knives. "I don't care what you do to anyone else, but you can't hurt Meryl!" His eyes filling with tears, Locke released Meryl and ran from the room.  
  
Knives, who had started to rise from his chair at the sound of Locke's first angry words, slumped back in his seat in shock. In his desire to bait Vash into an argument, he had forgotten the boy's presence in the room. He sank deeper into his chair in despair. Locke was mad at him, and didn't he have reason to be? He would never have even mentioned the girl in the first place if he hadn't thought that it would have angered Vash into responding. Knives irritably ran his fingers through his hair. What was he supposed to do now?   
  
Meryl quietly rose from her chair. "I'll go check on Locke." Pausing when she reached Knives, she gently laid a hand on his shoulder, as if to offer him comfort. Searching her eyes in surprise, he gave her a brief nod and she turned and left the room, the door sliding shut behind her.  
  
Vash watched his brother stare at the door, a confused look upon his face. "Don't worry about it, Knives. She'll calm Locke down," Vash paused and glanced sideways at Knives before adding lightly, "she's good at stuff like that."   
  
Knives turned to Vash, the confused look from a moment ago replaced by one of annoyance. "And just what is that supposed to mean?"  
  
Vash smiled and leaned back in his chair, studying Knives' reaction to his 'innocent' statement. "Oh, nothing... just that she has a great record of calming people down when they're being irrational." He grinned at Knives.   
  
Knives frowned but remained silent. "Yep," Vash continued, "you could even call her a pro at dealing with situations like these. You know, dealing with irrational people." Vash chuckled silently to himself. When was the last time he had felt comfortable enough to talk to Knives like this?   
  
"I guess..." Knives began slowly, "that she would also then be an expert on dealing with irritating, annoying, and idiotic people as well," he paused to level a glare at Vash, "considering she's been around you for the past four years!"  
  
'Ouch...' "Aw, come on, Knives! Don't be like that, I was just playing with you. There's no need to get mad." Vash waved his arms in front of him as if trying to calm Knives down, but secretly he was pleased at his brother's response. Knives responding to Vash's blatant teasing with irritation rather than anger had to be a sign of improvement.   
  
"Well, don't 'play' with me, Vash. I'm not in the mood." Knives rested his elbows on the table and held his cup between his hands, staring thoughtfully into his drink.  
  
Vash watched his brother carefully for a few minutes. Knives was really upset over what had happened, but he was taking great pains to hide it. Vash tried to think of something to say to put his brother at ease. "Relax, Knives... Meryl will--"  
  
"Enough!" Knives cut off Vash. "I'm tired of thinking about that woman, I refuse to talk about her as well." Vash raised a brow slightly at his brother's inadvertant admission, but said nothing. Knives glanced at him in irritation and ran his fingers through his hair again. "Don't just sit there staring at me, Vash... say something. Just not about that woman!"  
  
Vash leaned an elbow on the table and rested his chin on his raised hand. "So... heard any good jokes lately?"  
  
With an angry sneer, Knives abruptly rose from his chair and stalked toward the door, a grinning Vash following silently behind.  
  
~  
  
A quick search by Meryl had found Locke in the arboretum, laying on the grass under the oak tree and crying his heart out. When she had sat down next to him, he had wrapped his arms around her and buried his head in her lap, sobbing that he wouldn't let anyone hurt her, that he'd always protect her.   
  
Meryl shifted her weight into a more comfortable position and gently stroked Locke's hair away from his face. Kissing the top of his head she murmured soothing words and rubbed his back to try and calm him down.   
  
"It's not right, Meryl," he sobbed into her lap, "why'd Knives say those things?"  
  
"Shh... it's alright, Locke. Calm down." She patted his back gently. "I'm sure Knives didn't mean to upset you with what he said."   
  
Locke looked up at her, his eyes red from crying. "Then why'd he say it?"  
  
'Because he's a hotheaded moron...' "He was just trying to irritate his brother. They have... opposing views on certain things."   
  
Locke leaned back into her embrace. "He still shouldn't have said those things."  
  
She hugged him close, her chin resting on the top of his head. "Maybe not, but you shouldn't have yelled at him like that either." She pulled back to look into his eyes. "Don't you think so?"  
  
He studied her face a moment before slowly nodding in agreement. Sighing, he went back into her arms again. "I guess I'd better apologize to Knives, huh?"  
  
Meryl laughed softly. "I dunno, do you want to?"  
  
He nodded again. "Yeah, I'm not mad at Knives. I love him." His grip around her tightened. "And I love you too, Meryl."  
  
Her heart warming, she returned his tight hug. "And I love you, Locke."  
  
A minute passed, and then... "Meryl?"  
  
"Hmmm?"  
  
"What should I do if Knives says something like that again?" He peered up at her, his blue eyes suddenly anxious.  
  
Meryl frowned in thought. "I guess... you should do what I do when he says something that annoys me."  
  
Locke looked confused. "Call him an idiot when he's not around?"  
  
Meryl blushed and made a mental note to watch what she said when Locke was in earshot from now on. "Er... no. I mean, you should just try to ignore him when he goes off into one of his rants."  
  
The door to the arboretum sild open and Knives, followed closely by Vash, came in. His eyes quickly scanned the area until they fell upon Meryl and Locke. Hesitating briefly, he slowly walked toward them while trying to ignore Vash. He stopped a few feet away, carefully noting Locke's red eyes and frazzled appearance. A few uneasy moments passed before Locke released his grip on Meryl and flung his arms around Knives' waist.  
  
"I'm sorry I yelled at you, Knives! I didn't mean to!"   
  
Knives' eyes widened and he ackwardly put his arms around the boy. "It's... it's alright, Locke. Don't worry about it." He pulled out of the embrace and squatted so he was eye level with the boy. "I... I probably shouldn't have said those things." Glancing past Locke's head, he met Meryl's gaze and held it, and although he addressed Locke she had the feeling he was speaking to her as well. "Can you forgive me?"   
  
Wrapping his arms around Knives' neck in a tight hug, Locke nodded. Meryl sighed and dropped her eyes to her lap, relieved to have everything back to normal again. Knives again pulled out of the boy's embrace and straightened, slightly embarassed by the open display of affection. Noticing at his brother's huge grin he quickly grew annoyed again. "What!?"  
  
Vash held up his hands in mock surrender and then threw himself down on the grass next to Meryl. "Chill out, Bro. You're too high strung, you need to relax a little more." He grinned at Meryl. "Don't you agree?" She laughed, but upon catching Knives' dark look she decided not to comment.  
  
Vash leaned back on his elbows and stared off into the distance. "It's so beautiful... so peaceful." He turned back to address his brother. "So what are you planning to do now, if I might ask?"  
  
Knives opened his mouth to reply, but upon catching Meryl's warning glare he closed it again. He cleared his throat before speaking to her. "Maybe you should put Locke to bed, it's getting late."  
  
She nodded and got to her feet, heading for the door. "Aww, Knives! I'm not tired!" Locke whined, but he obediently followed Meryl.   
  
Knives waited until the door slid shut before turning his attention back to Vash. "What exactly do you mean?"  
  
Vash sat up and rested his arms on his knees. "What are your plans for the boy?"  
  
"Nothing at the moment, he's still a child." Knives studied his brother thoughtfully. "When he's older I'll educate him to the true nature of humans, of course. I'm sure he'll agree with my point of view."  
  
Vash studied the toe of his boot, trying to sound casual. "And if he doesn't? You saw how he reacted before, what if he disagrees with you?"  
  
Knives frowned. "He won't. He only acted like that before because of his attachment to that woman. Once she's gone I can concentrate on removing any and all foolish notions she may have put in his head about humans." Knives glanced away from his brother, his expression unreadable. "You're planning to take her back with you when you leave tomorrow, aren't you, Vash?"   
  
Vash glanced up at his brother's quiet tone. He nodded slightly, "I guess so."   
  
Knives mumbled something to himself and straightened. "Excuse me, Vash. But it's late and I have to get up early tomorrow. I assume you can find your way to your room by yourself?" At Vash's slightly perplexed nod he turned and headed for the door. "Then goodnight, Brother. I'll see you at breakfast."  
  
As the door slid shut Vash let out a huge sigh and fell back on the grass. He had thought that taking Meryl back to Spring as soon as possible would be the best course of action, but now... he wasn't so sure. Vash put his hands behind his head and stared up at the virtual blue sky. He had the strong suspicion that Locke wasn't the only one who had developed a strong attachment to Meryl.  
  
-----------------  
  
End chapter 9  
  
~  
  
Yma: Heh, thanks! I'm glad you thought the Meryl/Vash reunion scene was in character. I figured she'd give him a smack once she recovered from the shock/joy of seeing him again. You do know that I write those 'next time' thingys just to get back at you for your 'next chapter' blurbs in your fic, right? They drive me crazy. *lol* That reminds me... please update soon!!! _  
  
Arika*: Wow, thanks for all those reviews! Locke's hair color is closer in shade to Vash's, but not as 'bright'. Kinda like a soft 'honey blonde' color, I guess. I'm glad you're liking the fic. And good luck with your fic and update soon, okay? ^_^v  
  
Grace: Another one who thought the Meryl/Vash reunion worked. Yeah, I don't like sappy/fluff that much. I prefer subtlety. I hope that the Vash/Meryl scene in this chapter worked, too. Thanks for the review!   
  
Ana: Woot, heya! You wanna know something? I'm writing this thing and I'm not even 100% sure on who's gonna end up with who. I've rewritten the last chapter twice already because I keep changing my mind on how this should end. I think that's the best part of K/M/V stories, not knowing until the very end, and I'm going to do my best to keep everyone guessing. ^_^  
  
Malster: Wow, I seem to have created an Original Character that people actually like. In most fics, it's usually the other way around. Glad you like Locke so much!  
  
angelarms: Much thanks! Woot, I seemed to have hit my stride with that last chapter, everyone liked it. It's okay, sometimes I get those stupid error messages, too. I just hope you were going to give me a positive review for chapter 7? ^_^  
  
WW: Thank you! I hope you liked the Vash/Meryl moment in this chapter. It was my first time writing anything resembling 'fluff' and I tried to keep it to a minimum. I just hope it was in character for the two.  
  
Neptune Butterfly: *lol* Glad to know you liked that chapter so much! I hope the Vash/Meryl scene was 'fluffy' enough for you.   
  
KiTtY_iN_lUv: Thank you so much!  
  
~  
  
Meryl once said, "All of life's journeys come with meetings, partings, and reunions." So far we've had a meeting and a reunion. Is it time for a parting?  
  
Next time: Vash has come for Meryl. Has the time really come for her to say goodbye to Locke? And I wonder what Knives will have to say about this... 


	11. Saying goodbye

Disclaimer: I don't own Trigun, I'm just borrowing it for awhile. Trigun is property of Yasuhiro Nightow, Mad House, Pioneer, and whoever else was smart enough to get a piece of the action. I just know I wasn't. T_T  
  
"..." is talking  
  
'...' is thinking  
  
-----------------  
  
A Glimpse of Eden  
  
-----------------  
  
Chapter - 10  
  
~  
  
Meryl poured the last of the batter into one pan, being careful to keep an eye on the strips of bacon frying in the other. The smell of cooking bacon made her mouth water and she cast a glance over at Locke, who was busy setting the table for breakfast.  
  
"Don't forget the glasses, Locke." She turned back to her cooking, spearing the bacon with a fork and then placing the strips on a plate.  
  
"Okay." Locke finished laying down the silverware and went to a cupboard to the fetch the drinking glasses. Grabbing four, he headed back to the table and set them down carefully. "Hey, Meryl? Can I ask you something?"  
  
"Sure, Locke." She flipped the pancake over. "What is it?"  
  
"Why are you making pancakes? Usually you just make eggs and toast for breakfast."  
  
She smiled. "I just felt like making pancakes today, that's all." She flipped the pancake out of the pan. Taking the plate of pancakes over to the table she leaned down and whispered to Locke. "Vash likes pancakes."   
  
Locke smiled back at her and then eyed the stack of pancakes. "I do, too."  
  
The door slid open and a yawning Vash appeared. "Good morning! I didn't miss breakfast, did I?"  
  
Meryl laughed. "Nope, you're just on time."  
  
Vash sat down at the table and hungrily eyed the food. "Pancakes! Meryl, you shouldn't have!" He quickly began piling the plate in front of him with cakes.   
  
She shook her head in quiet amusement. She'd almost forgotten how much the man could eat. "Just be sure to save some for the rest of us, Vash." She placed two of the cakes on the plate in front of Locke and poured him and Vash some milk. She fixed her own plate and sat down at the table next to Locke and across from Vash.   
  
After a few minutes she glanced around the room, frowning slightly. "Where's Knives? He's usually on time for breakfast."  
  
"I dunno," Vash replied, his mouth full of food, "but I guess that means there's more for us, right?" He gave Locke a huge grin.  
  
Locke nodded, "Right!"  
  
Meryl sighed and shot Vash a look. "Don't talk with your mouth full." She frowned down at Locke. "And that goes for you, too."  
  
"Aw, Meryl..." Vash began to whine. She abruptly stood up and Vash closed his mouth and swallowed in one huge gulp. "Empty! It's empty!"  
  
She filled another plate with food and headed toward the door. Turning back, she gave both of them a warning glare. "I'm going to take Knives his breakfast. You two better behave while I'm gone." She narrowed her gaze. "Or else!"   
  
She turned on her heel and left the room, leaving behind a slightly worried Locke and a highly amused Vash.  
  
"What do you think she means, 'or else'?" Locke asked nervously.  
  
Vash smiled across the table at the boy, seemingly unaffected by Meryl's parting words. "Don't worry about it. I'm sure Meryl didn't mean anything by it. But..." he lowered his voice until it was almost a whisper, "maybe we should behave ourselves until she gets back."  
  
"Yeah..." Locke whispered back in complete agreement, then happily shoved another forkful of pancake in his mouth.  
  
"Er... hey, Locke. Is it alright if I ask you something?" Vash asked after a few minutes of silence, trying his best to sound nonchalant. After the boy nodded, Vash continued. "Knives and Meryl. Do they get along okay?"  
  
"Oh, yeah. They get along great." Locke answered, then after a moment's reflection added, "When they aren't fighting."  
  
~  
  
Meryl hesitantly tapped on the door to the computer room. Knives hadn't been in the room where he did his morning exercises, so she figured that he must have already begun his work. She tapped again, a little louder this time, but still there was no response. She pressed the button on the panel and the door slid open. Walking in, she found Knives in his usual chair, his legs propped up on the console, fast asleep.   
  
She approached slowly and as silently as she could, not wishing to disturb his slumber. She quietly placed the plate she had brought on the console before turning to study Knives more closely. One of his arms was ackwardly hanging limp at his side, having apparently fallen off the armrest sometime during the night, and his other arm was carelessly laid across his waist, gently raising and falling with the rhythm of his breathing. His short blonde hair had been slightly mussed during sleep and Meryl resisted the urge to smooth it back into place. His face, which was usually so cold and uncaring when he was awake, appeared almost peaceful and innocent now. When he suddenly mumbled something in his sleep, Meryl's attention was drawn to his mouth, noticing how, when he wasn't using it to yell at her, it was actually very pretty.   
  
Bending down, she rested a hand on his shoulder. "Knives?"  
  
Stirring, he slowly opened his eyes and stared blankly into hers. Rousing himself, he sat up straighter and dropped his feet to the floor. "What's the matter? What is it?" His voice was low and his eyes barely focused, he was still half asleep.  
  
She leaned against the console and crossed her arms. "You didn't show up for breakfast so I thought I'd bring you a plate." She frowned slightly. "Are you okay, Knives? You didn't spend the night in here, did you?"  
  
He leaned back in his chair and stretched, giving her a somewhat embarassed look. "I suppose I did." He pulled his chair closer to the console. "Is my brother awake yet?"  
  
She nodded. "He and Locke are having breakfast in the kitchen."  
  
After a long minute of careful study of his plate, he broke the silence. "So..." he began slowly, "what time will you and Vash be leaving?"  
  
She glanced at him in surprise. "What do you mean?"  
  
"You're going back to Spring with him, aren't you?"   
  
Meryl blinked and looked confused. "Well... yeah, I guess so. I just didn't think we'd be leaving so soon."   
  
He stared at her cooly. "Then what did you think?"  
  
She blushed slightly under his gaze. "I thought we would stay around longer. I mean, he's only been here a day." She glanced away. "What's the rush?"  
  
He took a bite of food and chewed carefully before replying. "He knows he isn't welcome on my ship." At her questioning look he continued. "I don't trust him around my equipment." After another moment of silence he frowned. "Don't you think you should talk to Locke before you go?"  
  
Her head jerked up and she studied him a moment before nodding. He watched her leave before turning back to his food. Pushing the plate away he stared at the blank computer screen in front of him. For some reason, he wasn't very hungry anymore.  
  
~  
  
Vash watched Meryl hug Locke tightly as the boy clung to her, refusing to let her go. "Please don't go, Meryl! I don't want to be alone!"   
  
She tried to hush him. "Shh... you won't be alone, you'll still have Knives."  
  
He shook his head. "It's not the same." He wrapped his arms more fiercely around her waist. "I need you, Meryl!"  
  
She was able to pull away slightly and she knelt down in front of him. "Don't cry, Locke. This is hard enough for me as it is." Her vision blurred with tears but she willed them away. "I have to go. Please understand, Locke." She hugged him close again, trying to ignore how much she was hurting. She had to put on a brave front for his sake. If she broke down and cried it would only make things harder for him.  
  
"That's enough, Locke." Meryl glanced up as Knives approached. He had changed his clothes and had apparently also taken a shower as his hair looked damp. He gently pulled Locke from Meryl's arms and turned a cold stare on her. "If Meryl wants to leave then there's no use trying to stop her."  
  
Her mouth dropped open and she stared at him in shock. He made it sound like she was abandoning them or something. She got to her feet, suddenly angry. "What exactly do you mean by 'if Meryl wants to leave'!? You're the one," she pointed a finger at his chest, "who said he'd gladly throw me out the moment he got the chance!"  
  
He raised a bored eyebrow and looked at her as if she was an idiot. "I believe," he paused slightly, carefully choosing his next words, "that my exact words were that you could go when I decided you were no longer needed." She frowned and glared at him, trying to understand what he was getting at. He continued, pointedly ignoring her angry glare. "And when you asked me how long that would be, I replied that it would be a year." He smirked. "And the last time I checked, a year consisted of twelve months, not seven."   
  
Her jaw dropped open in shock. Was this man serious!? She cleared her throat and forced herself to calm down. "I thought... that you'd be glad I was leaving."  
  
He shook his head in mock disappointment. "Do you see, Locke?" he asked, ignoring her comment, "How quickly these humans forget their promises?" He took the boy's hand and started to walk away from Meryl and Vash.  
  
"Wait!" Meryl yelled at his back, "What the hell do you mean by that!?" She watched Knives and Locke turn the corner and vanish from her sight. She crossed her arms angrily over her chest and glared in the direction Knives had left in.   
  
Vash smiled slightly. He had watched the entire thing almost in a state of shock. At first, he had been as confused as Meryl was now, but then he had understood. Knives wasn't about to come out and ask her to stay there longer, that would be beneath him. Instead, he had voiced the belief that she was breaking some kind of agreement with him to stay a full year, knowing that Meryl's sense of honor would make her question her right to leave. And Vash, knowing Meryl the way he did, already knew what her decision would be.  
  
"Vash..." She turned and looked at him sadly. "I can't... I don't think I should leave right now..."  
  
He smiled and rested a hand on her shoulder. "It's alright, Meryl. I understand completely." He grinned, trying to cheer her up. "It's only five more months, right? It'll go by like that." He snapped his fingers. "I'll just go back to Spring and explain things to Milly." He rubbed the back of his head in thought. "I just hope she dosen't get violent when I show up alone."  
  
Meryl's face brightened and she smiled hopefully. "You mean, you don't mind waiting?"  
  
Vash smiled at her gently and brushed her cheek affectionally with the back of his fingers. "You waited a year for me, I guess I can wait five months for you."   
  
She blushed and lowered her head in embarassment. "Thanks, Vash."  
  
He stepped back slightly and pressed the button to open the door to the exit. "Well, I guess I'd better get going. Spring's about a week away by foot." He picked up his bag and stepped outside. "I'm really proud of you, Meryl. You're doing such a great job with Locke and... whether it seems like it or not, Knives really listens to you." At her dubious look he added, "No really, he does." He gave her a gentle smile. "He's really changed alot since I last saw him and I think it's because of you."  
  
She still looked doubtful. "You think so?"  
  
He nodded. "Absolutely!" He slung his bag over his shoulder. "Well, I'm off! See you soon, Meryl!"  
  
She raised her hand in farewell and watched him head off in the direction of Spring. After a few minutes he turned and gave her a cheerful wave before continuing on his way. Tears filled her eyes as she watched him grow steadily smaller on the horizon and only when she couldn't see him anymore did she press the button to close the door.  
  
She leaned her back against the door, a small smile touching her lips. Vash was proud of her! Suddenly, five months didn't seem so long now that she knew Vash would be back in Spring waiting for her. She grinned and set off down the hall in search of Knives and Locke.   
  
~  
  
Meryl stood outside the door to the arboretum, listening to the muffed voices coming from inside. She had figured that they would be in there. She took a deep breath to steady herself before hitting the button to open the door. Stepping inside she quickly located Knives and Locke by the oak tree she usually sat under. Trying to appear as casual as she could, she headed toward them.   
  
"Do you really think so, Knives?" She was close enough now to hear their conversation.  
  
"Of course, just wait a little long--" He caught sight of her approach and abrupty cut off the rest of his sentence. His face was unreadable, but for one brief moment Meryl thought she saw relief in his eyes. Almost immediately the look was gone and she wondered if she had only imagined it.   
  
Locke followed Knives' gaze and his eyes lit up with joy at the sight of her. "Meryl!!" He launched himself at her and almost knocked her down in his enthusiasm. He looked up at her, his blue eyes hopeful. "You're staying, right?"  
  
She smiled and gave him a small nod. "For a little while longer."  
  
He grinned and loosened his grip on her to twist around to face Knives. "Isn't that great, Knives? Meryl's not leaving us!"  
  
He shrugged. "I suppose." He shot her an annoyed look. "But she'd better learn how to control that temper of hers."  
  
Meryl clenched her fists but remained silent. She didn't want to start an argument and only wind up backing up his statement. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction. Looking somewhat disappointed by her lack of response, he walked over to where she and Locke were standing.   
  
Stopping just behind Locke, he placed his hands on the boy's shoulders and spoke down to him. "Locke, why don't you go and wait in your room." Seeing the boy's hesitant expression he gently urged. "Go ahead, it's alright. I just need to speak to Meryl privately for a few minutes." The boy still looked uncertain, but he obeyed Knives and headed for the exit anyway. Meryl watched the door slide shut before she turned back to Knives. He was studying her in that unsettling way he had.   
  
"Why didn't you leave with my brother? You obviously wanted to, so what made you stay?" His tone was quiet and he sounded genuinely curious.  
  
"Huh?" she blinked, confused and surprised by his question. When he had sent Locke from the room she had assumed he wanted to yell at her about something and had been more than prepared to give it back to him in kind. His question had thrown her off slightly.  
  
His gaze traveled from her eyes to her mouth. "What made you stay?"   
  
She blushed under his scrutiny and focused her attention on a nearby flower, trying to ignore how his closeness affected her. "Locke needed me."  
  
"Was that the only reason?" he asked, his voice almost a whisper.  
  
She turned her attention back to him and gave him an irritated glare. "And because you made it sound like I was breaking some kind of promise." She crossed her arms. "And I don't break my word."  
  
He tilted his head to one side and frowned in thought. "You stayed because of your sense of honor and duty? Of pride?"  
  
She raised an eyebrow somewhat uncertainly. "I suppose so..."  
  
He gave a short bitter laugh and turned away from her. "You humans and your foolish pride." He glanced back at her. "You know, allowing your pride to cloud your judgement can get you killed."  
  
"You know, Knives," she glared at him, "pride isn't just limited to humans."  
  
He turned back to her, a surprised look on his face at her quick retort. After a few long seconds, a smile slowly spread across his face and he started laughing. Not the mocking, arrogant sound she was used to hearing from him, but genuine laughter. She smiled in amazement. He actually had a very pleasant laugh. He shook his head and gave her an amused glance. "I supose you may be right about that."  
  
The smile faded from his face and he frowned again. "What are you to my brother?"  
  
The question came out of nowhere and again caught Meryl by surprise. "What do you mean?"  
  
"What are you to my brother?" he repeated. "Are you..." he paused, as if trying to think of the appropriate term, "his woman?"  
  
Meryl choked and began to cough. "What!? No, no... nothing like that!" She waved her hands in front of her, barely managing to control a blush. "We're just friends." She blinked. "What made you ask that?"  
  
He shrugged. "I was merely curious." He turned and started for the exit. "The way you act around my brother gave me cause to wonder, that's all."  
  
"Wait!" He stopped a little distance away and turned to face her. She frowned and started toward him. "What do you mean, the way I-- ack!" She let out a small yelp as her foot caught on a root and she tripped. Knives' face paled and he tried to step back, out of the way of her fall, but he wasn't fast enough and she smacked into him, knocking them both to the ground in a tangled heap.   
  
Opening her eyes, she saw to her horror that she was now on top of Knives, her face only inches above his own. Knives' eyes were wide with shock and Meryl wondered what was going through his mind. Time seemed to stand still and she couldn't help but notice how blue his eyes were, how soft and golden his hair looked in the light, how strong his body was...  
  
Blushing in embarassment at her own thoughts, she pushed herself up on her hands and rolled off of him, into the grass. She watched Knives sit up and run a shaky hand through his hair, his face red. He closed his eyes and appeared to be trying to compose himself. After a few seconds, he opened his eyes and turned to her, still looking pale and shaken by what had happened.  
  
Meryl leaned forward slightly and clasped her hands in front of her. "I'm so sorry, Knives. It was an accident."  
  
His gaze left hers and dropped to his lap. "You can go now. Locke's waiting for you."  
  
Alarmed by his quiet tone, she hesitantly got to her feet, still concerned. "Are you alright? You aren't hurt, are you?"   
  
He nodded and looked up at her, his expression guarded. "I'm fine. Don't worry about it." His voice was calm and controlled, his emotions once again held carefully in check. "We... we won't speak of this again."  
  
Biting her lip in frustration, she turned and headed for the exit. As the door slid open she cast a glance back to Knives. He was still sitting there, knees drawn up to his chest, staring off into the distance, apparently lost in thought. Stepped through the door she sighed, hoping that the delicate link she had with Knives hadn't just been severed.  
  
~  
  
At the sound of the door closing, Knives released the breath he hadn't even realized he had been holding and forced himself to relax. He leaned back onto the grass and frowned. What was wrong with him? He should be angry that a human had dared to touch him, accident or not... but for some reason he wasn't. He had been surprised, and a little bit shaken by the unexpected contact, but he felt no anger toward the girl. Maybe that was why he felt so confused right now. Had it been any other human he would have killed them on the spot and not have given it a second thought, but Meryl wasn't just any other human, she was...  
  
Knives abruptly sat up, his body growing hot as he remembered how close she had been, how soft and warm her body had felt pressed against his. He shook his head, trying to rid himself of such thoughts. He ran an aggitated hand through his hair, confused by emotions he didn't understand and wasn't sure he wanted to.   
  
He stood up and carefully brushed the grass from his clothes before heading for the exit. He decided to ignore the strange emotions she had caused within him, at least until he had the time to properly sort them out.   
  
-----------------  
  
End chapter 10  
  
~  
  
Arika*.D: You're quite welcome, and thanks for continuing to review mine.   
  
Yma: Heh, thank you! And yes, it's ALOT of fun... *evil grin*   
  
Beckira: Thanks, I try my best. ^_^v  
  
angelarms: Thanks! Locke may be sweet, but he's bound to pick up a couple of Knives and Meryl's less positive traits sooner or later...  
  
Xiao Feng: Another V/M fan. Where are all the K/M fans? *lol* I dunno... isn't having two different endings kinda a cop-out? I'm sure I can write an ending that'll please both sides... maybe.   
  
Ana: Woot! Knives is still in character! I sure hope he stays that way. *lol*   
  
WW: Thank you! And I guess your question was answered in this chapter. Like Vash said, Knives kinda wants Meryl around a little longer and he wasn't going to ask her to stay, so he manipulated her somewhat to get that outcome. Geez, what a poor example to set for Locke...  
  
~  
  
Next time: Meryl's near exhaustion caring for a sick Locke and now she has to check on an equally ill Knives. Poor Meryl, it's just not her day. And when Knives' thoughts shift dramatically, it just might be her last... 


	12. No rest for the weary

Disclaimer: I don't own Trigun, I'm just borrowing it for awhile. Trigun is property of Yasuhiro Nightow, Mad House, Pioneer, and whoever else was smart enough to get a piece of the action. I just know I wasn't. T_T  
  
"..." is talking  
  
'...' is thinking   
  
-----------------  
  
A Glimpse of Eden  
  
-----------------  
  
Chapter - 11  
  
~  
  
Carefully balancing a tray, Meryl wearily made her way toward Locke's room. He had come down with a high fever and a bad cough a week ago and Meryl had been running herself ragged trying to care for him. Then, two days after Locke came down with it, Knives had begun to show signs of the same symptoms and had disapeared into his room. She hadn't seen him since.  
  
Lifting the tray, she managed to hit the door button to Locke's room with her elbow. Stepping inside, she found her patient awake and waiting for her. "Good morning, Locke. How are you feeling today?" She smiled and placed the tray on the nightstand before gently laying her hand against his forehead. "Your fever is gone, that's good. Do you think you'll be able to eat something today?"  
  
Locke frowned and shook his head. "I'm not hungry, Meryl."  
  
"I know... but you really should eat something." She helped him sit up and piled his pillows behind his back for support. He hadn't been able to keep down solid food so she had been giving him liquids to keep him from getting dehydrated. "I made you some scrambled eggs and dry toast. I want you to eat as much as possible."  
  
He bit his lip. "But... what if it makes me throw up again?"  
  
"I don't think this will make you throw up, Locke," she assured him as she placed the tray over his lap. "I also made you some hot tea with cinnamon and honey. My mother used to make it for me when I was sick, and it always made me feel better."  
  
"Yeah?" he eyed the drink suspiciously.  
  
"Would I lie to you?" She bent down and picked up the blankets she had used to make herself a makeshift bed on the floor. He had been having rough nights because of his cough so she had moved into his room so she could be near him. Folding the blankets, she placed them neatly on the desk and then seated herself in the chair next to his bed.  
  
He picked up the glass and cautiously took a small sip. Swallowing, he gave Meryl a weak smile. "It dosen't taste... that bad."  
  
Laughing, she leaned forward and fondly patted his blonde head. "That's a good boy."  
  
Giving her a small grin, he picked up a piece of toast. "Is Knives still sick, too?"  
  
"I guess..." she said a bit uncertainly, "He hasn't come out of his room, yet."  
  
He glanced at her, a look of concern on his face. "I'm worried about him." He started to cough, and Meryl went to hold him until it passed. With a sigh, he leaned against her. "Do you think you should check on him?"  
  
"Maybe." She brushed his hair away from his forehead. "Do you want me to rub your back?" At his slight nod, she went to retrieve the medicine rub from off the desk. Moving the tray from the bed back to the nightstand, she unbuttoned Locke's pajama top and began to gently rub the medicine into his back and chest. The medicine would help his cough and the massage would relax him.   
  
Redoing Locke's top, she rearranged his pillows and tried to make him as comfortable as possible. "Is there anything else I can do?" He shook his head, so Meryl picked up the tray again. "You should try and get some rest now. I'll be back as soon as I return this to the kitchen."  
  
"Meryl?" She stopped at the door and turned back to Locke, the tray resting against her hip.  
  
"Yes, Locke?"  
  
Rolling over on his side, he gave her a slight smile. "I think Knives would like some of your tea."  
  
She returned his smile. "I think you're right."  
  
Leaving the room, she headed for the kitchen. She would bring Knives some tea, and hopefully, the gesture would make up for the fact that she would be intruding into another room that was off limits to her... his bedroom.  
  
That, or he would be too sick and weak to care.  
  
~  
  
Steadying the tray, Meryl took a deep breath and knocked on the door to Knives' room. Hearing a muffled sound in response to her knock, she pressed the button and stepped inside.   
  
The room was huge, easily three times the size of her's or Locke's. A long row of bookcases, filled with more books than she had ever seen together in one place, lined one wall. On the opposite wall, there were two large dressers, an armoire, and a desk with a computer on it. Aside from a single book laying open on the desk next to the bed, the room was spotless and well-organized. A reflection of the man who lived there.  
  
Striding over to the desk, she carefully set the tray down. "Good morning, Knives. Locke asked me to check on you." She turned to study the bed's occupant and tried to surpress a grin. "How are you feeling?"  
  
A low, muffled grunt was her answer. The sheet was pulled up tight around him and his head was buried under a pillow. All she could see of him was a bare arm that was clutching the pillow to his head. He must be miserable.   
  
Turning back to the tray, she began fixing him a cup of tea. "I bought you something to drink. It'll make you feel better."  
  
The pillow shifted slightly and a blue eye glared out at her. "What is it?"   
  
"Hot tea with cinnamin and honey."  
  
He disappeared under the pillow again. "It sounds dreadful."  
  
Putting a fist against her hip, she glared at him, even though she knew he couldn't see her. "Look, do you want it or not!?"  
  
He sat up, the sheet falling down around his waist, exposing his bare chest. "Then give it to me already."  
  
Trying to control her blush, she handed him the glass, taking note of how he carefully avoided contact with her fingers.   
  
He took a drink, his blue eyes focusing on her over the rim. Finally... "It's not that bad. I've had worse." Ignoring her look of indignation at what she took to be an insult, he quickly downed the rest of the drink and held the glass out to her. "More."   
  
Surprised, she took the glass from his hand and stared at him. With a short sigh, he added, "Please."  
  
Setting the glass back on the tray, she began preparing him another drink. "I thought you didn't like it."  
  
"I didn't say I didn't like it," he grunted in annoyance, "I only said that I'd had worse."  
  
She finished with the drink and handed it to him without another word. Lifting the glass to his mouth, he glanced up at her. "How is Locke?"  
  
Grinning, she turned back to the tray. "Much better. His fever broke yesterday and he seems more alert." She smiled at him. "I think in another day or two he'll be well enough to get out of bed."  
  
He didn't reply, only took another long sip of the tea. She continued, half to fill the silence and half to cover her nervousness over his state of undress. "Little boys just have a way of getting over these things so quickly. I remember the last time I had the flu, I was in bed for over two weeks." She laughed. "Milly had to cover for me at the Insurance Society so I wouldn't lose my job."  
  
She chanced a look at Knives. He was staring at her with that empty, bored look that only he possessed. She coughed, deciding to get back to the subject at hand. "Still, I'm surprised Locke's doing so well already. The flu can be rough."  
  
He finally spoke, sounding amused. "That's because he's not human." He idly examined the contents of his glass. "Beings like myself, Locke, and my brother, have a faster healing rate than humans."  
  
She already knew they weren't human, but the healing thing was news to her. A sudden thought occured to her and she spoke without thinking, "So then why did it take you a year to recover from your fight with Vash?"  
  
He glanced sharply at her, a look of pain crossing his face before quickly smoothing out into one of disinterest. "That was... different."  
  
"Oh..." She but her lip, annoyed at herself for making him retreat behind his mask again. She cleared her throat and forced herself to sound cheerful. "Oh, but you never answered me before. How are you feeling?" She tilted her head and studied him. "You don't look that sick."  
  
And he didn't. A little tired maybe, and his hair was mussed, but otherwise he looked fine. Almost as if sensing her thoughts, he reached up and ran fingers through his hair, straightening the short blonde strands into place.  
  
He gave her a wry look. "I'm feeling much better, thank you," he answered, irritably stressing the words 'thank you'. He emptied the cup and handed it back to her. "A little sore, but I should be fine by tomorrow." He gaze fell upon the tray when something happened to catch his eye. "What is that?"  
  
"Hm?" She looked for whatever had his attention. "Oh, that... it's the medicine rub I've been using on Locke." She must have left it on the tray when she had left his room.  
  
Raising an eyebrow, he looked at it curiously. "What does it do?"  
  
Picking up the jar, she held it in front of her and struck a pose, imitating an ad from the store. "This amazing rub is magic for clearing up chest or head congestion. Just rub in on your chest or back, and instant relief is yours." She held it out to him, giggling at her own foolishness. Knives was right, she had been hanging around Vash too long.   
  
"And does it work?" he asked after a moment, apparently having decided to ignore her uncharacteristic outburst.  
  
"Well..." she frowned, thinking. "I've been using it to give Locke massages and it seems to help him."  
  
"Is that so?" He shifted his position on the bed, turning his back toward her. "That dosen't sound like such a bad idea."  
  
"Wha... what doesn't!?" she blushed, feining confusion.  
  
Glancing over his shoulder, he threw her an irritated glare. "A massage."  
  
"You... you want me to give you a massage!?" she squeaked, her face crimson.  
  
A slight smirk. "Well, I could hardly give myself one," he replied logically.  
  
"But I thought you didn't like people touching you!" she said, trying to find any excuse that might get herself out of the embarassing predicament.  
  
"Usually I don't," he sighed and turned away from her, "but I'm making an exception today."  
  
She stood silently for a few moments, trying to decide if this was another one of his warped jokes or if he was serious. Finally, she stepped forward and lightly perched on the edge of the bed. Knives adjusted the sheet more securely around his waist and leaned forward, allowing her full access to his back.  
  
Her hands shook and she almost dropped the jar, but after a few calming breaths she managed to get some of the medicine out and into her palm. Lightly rubbing her hands together to spread the medicine, she took another deep breath before gingerly placing her hands at the top of his shoulder blades. He automatically tensed in reaction to her touch, but began to relax as she massaged his shoulders. After a minute, she moved her hands down to his lower back, determined to get the massage done with as soon as possible. Her hands moved lower until they were just above the sheet and she had a sudden thought. Did Knives sleep naked?  
  
He chuckled lightly, and she felt her whole body grow warm in embarassment. He couldn't... read her mind, could he?  
  
"What's so funny?" she asked, struggling to keep her voice calm.  
  
With a sly gleam in his icy blue eyes, he glanced back at her from over his shoulder. "You seem nervous. Is something wrong?"  
  
"Not at all." She ignored his mocking smirk and hurriedly finished rubbing the medicine on his back. Standing and moving away from the bed, she wiped her hands on her skirt, trying to remove the remaining traces of medicine and the memory of his warm, smooth skin. Catching his amused smile, she sent him a look that would have sent his brother running in fear. "What is it now, Knives?"  
  
He leaned back against his pillows, enjoying her irritation. "Absolutely nothing."   
  
He stretched lazily, well-toned muscles flexing slightly in response, and noticed how quickly the girl adverted her attention elsewhere. Oh, but not fast enough. He had seen the admiring look she had given him just before turning away. And why shouldn't he be admired? His body was perfect. Over 130 years of intense training and physical discipline had given him a body of unmatched strength and beauty.   
  
His gaze narrowed, his thoughts shifting. His brother would have had a body as perfect as this, had the humans not scared it like they had. A sudden rage filled him, so intense that it almost choked him. The human garbage were responsible for the vast array of scars and metal that adorned his brother's body. Wounds that had been so deep and violent that they could never be regenerated. He clenched his jaw, his hatred for the humans so strong he could taste it. He'd kill them all. He'd make them suffer like his brother had.  
  
A sudden movement drew his attention away from his dark thoughts and back to the girl, watching as she moved toward one of the bookcases, her head thoughtfully tilted to one side as she scanned the titles. He doubled his fist in anger. She was one of those vermin, her mere existence was an abomination to his kind, so why did he allow her to live? Why not kill her now and be done with it.  
  
He released his breath in a low hiss, nearly overwhelmed by the sudden desire to leap up and snap the girl's neck. Her slender hand reached for a book and he studied the girl's slight form. She was so small and delicate, it would hardly take any effort at all to kill her. So why did he hesitate?   
  
She turned to him, her smile warm and her eyes bright, and Knives felt his heart tighten in response. The anger, which only moments before had been so intense, abruptly left him, leaving him feeling emotionally drained and confused.  
  
"I can't believe you have this! I haven't read this since I was a child." Excitement tinged her voice and she lightly ran her fingertips across the book's cover. "My father dosen't even have this book." When he didn't reply she frowned, a look of concern on her face. He was pale and staring at her like he'd never seen her before. "Are you alright, Knives? You don't look so well."  
  
"I'm fine!" he snapped, and was rewarded with a hurt look from Meryl.   
  
He shut his eyes tightly, trying to gain control over his emotions again. He didn't like it when they were exposed and out in the open. Emotions made people vulnerable. And he, perhaps more than anyone, knew how dangerous and powerful emotions could be when manipulated. Hadn't he himself employed that very tactic against his own brother over the years? Even the Gung Ho Guns had been controlled by a combination of careful manipulation and fear.   
  
He felt a cool, gentle hand press against his forehead and he opened his eyes in surprise. Meryl was leaning down in front of him, the look of concern back in place. Her hand moved from his forehead down to his cheek and the side of her mouth dipped into a thoughtful frown. "You don't feel feverish. Did drinking all that tea upset your stomach?"  
  
"No," he pushed her hand away, annoyed at how her touch affected him, "I feel fine."  
  
She straightened, looking as though she didn't quite believe him. "You look tired. Maybe you should get some rest."  
  
"Maybe I should." He settled back against his pillows again, tugging at the sheet. Surprising him again, Meryl stepped forward and pulled the blanket from the bottom of his bed up and over him, then began straightening his pillows. "Just what do you think you're doing!?"  
  
She froze, then stepped back from his bed with a small giggle. "I'm sorry, Knives. But after this week, it's become somewhat of a habit."  
  
He studied her, noticing for the first time how tired she looked. "You look like you could use some rest as well." When her eyes widened in surprise at his words, he hurriedly added, "I mean, if you collapse from exhaustion you'll be of no value to me."  
  
She lowered her head, and Knives thought he heard her mumble something under her breath before she glanced back up at him.  
  
"I suppose you're right. I am feeling a bit tired. Maybe after I check in on Locke and let him know how you're doing I'll take a little nap." She picked up the book from off the desk. "Would you mind if I borrowed this for awhile?"  
  
Glancing at the book briefly, he gave a shrug of indifference. "I suppose not."  
  
Hugging it to her chest, she grinned happily. "Thanks. I'll take good care of it."  
  
"See that you do. I don't like having my things treated carelessly."  
  
Tucking the book under her arm, she carefully lifted the tray and headed for the door. As the door slid open she turned back to Knives. The way he was watching her made her nervous. "Um, is there anything I can get for you? You must be hungry."  
  
Not really, but her concern for him was almost touching. When was the last time someone had truly cared about his needs? He couldn't remember. "I'm fine right now, but I will be at breakfast tomorrow and I'll expect something other than eggs and toast."  
  
Smiling, she made a mental note to herself not to make eggs for breakfast anymore. At least not for awhile anyway. "How about french toast?" He nodded, so she turned to leave.  
  
"Meryl?"  
  
With a small sigh, she adjusted the tray against her hip and turned back to him again. "Yes, Knives?"  
  
He dropped his eyes to his lap, a look of uncertainty softening his features, making his face appear less harsh and strained. After a minute of silence he frowned, shaking his head slightly. "Nevermind. It was nothing." He glanced back up at her, his face expressionless once again. "You may leave now."  
  
Giving him one last smile, she turned and left, the door sliding shut behind her. Knives stared at the door silently, listening to the sound of her retreating footsteps. Finally, he laid back down and studied the ceiling, making plans. As soon as Locke was better he would begin the boy's training. It was time the boy learned how to handle a gun.  
  
He reached up and absently brushed the back of his fingers at the spot on his cheek where the girl had touched. The touch had been disconcerting in itself, but what really bothered him the most was the comfort and enjoyment he had derived from it.   
  
With an exasperated grunt, he jerked the blanket over his head and curled up under it, trying to sort out his thoughts. Why did the girl have such an affect on him? No other human had ever made him feel like this before. Of course, he hadn't really had much personal contact with humans in his 130 years of life, with the exception of the Seeds crew and his servant Legato. When he wasn't slaughtering them enmasse, he had spent much of his time avoiding contact with humans whenever possible. But this girl was different. He actually found pleasure in her company.  
  
Another loan moan escaped his throat at the revelation. The thought that he, Millions Knives, freeborn Plant, and killer of men, women, and children indiscriminately, could find pleasure in the company of a lowly human girl was... disturbing.  
  
Hopefully, when the time came for the girl to leave he would have these feelings under control. He wasn't sure how much more of this he could take.  
  
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End chapter 11  
  
~  
  
Magnet-Rose: YES!!! But V/M is awesome, too. ^_^  
  
Slate Grey: Wow, a K/M fan has been drawn out. *lol* Thank you! And I'm in complete agreement with the 'Knives is kinda a jerk' thing. But that's one of the reasons we love him, right? ^_^  
  
Arika*: Thank you! And I'll keep an eye out for your update!  
  
Yma: Thanks again! Yep, I update frequently, but that also means the end of this fic is fast approaching. I'm kinda working on an extra chapter to insert into this fic, so hopefully I'll get it done soon so that my updating isn't thrown off.  
  
Malster: Woot! I'm so happy to hear that! Now I just have to worry about Milly. *lol*  
  
Beckira: Thanks!!! I'm glad you're enjoying my fic. ^_^v  
  
angelarms: My friend was upset at Vash leaving so soon, too, because he said I can write Vash the best of all the Trigun characters. Well... no worries, Vash isn't gone forever. ^_^  
  
WW: Thank you! And yeah, I'm having the same problem. Vash and Meryl are so sweet together...but then there's something about Knives and Meryl that makes them such a great couple, too.  
  
LazyCat9: Yep! That's partly why I'm writing this, because as a Knives' fan myself, there just can't be too much Knives oriented fanfiction. ^_^  
  
EvilChibiRuler: Thank you!   
  
Ana: Glad you liked that scene! Heh, poor Knives... ^_^v  
  
trapt-tears: Thank you for your review! Sometimes I worry if Knives and Meryl are going OOC, so it's nice to know that they're not. ^_^  
  
panny-chan98: And another K/M fan. Thank you, and I certainly will!  
  
Knives_Lady: Thank you for reviewing!  
  
~  
  
Next time: It's training time for Locke! And unless I get enough time to finish typing an upcoming bonus chapter, it might be my last update for at least a week. _ 


	13. Training time

Disclaimer: I don't own Trigun, I'm just borrowing it for awhile. Trigun is property of Yasuhiro Nightow, Mad House, Pioneer, and whoever else was smart enough to get a piece of the action. I just know I wasn't. T_T  
  
"..." is talking  
  
'...' is thinking   
  
Woah, sorry about the late update! This week was too crazy for me! I got called into work on my off day, so I couldn't type that day, then I cut my hand and couldn't hold a pencil to write anything (I usually write chapter drafts when I'm at work), and then the forums I mod for finally switched servers so I was busy with that. Crazy, crazy, crazy. _  
  
Even though I haven't finished that extra chapter I'm working on yet, I decided to update my fic anyway. Hope you like!  
  
Short chapter alert! But this is the last short chapter left in my fic.  
  
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A Glimpse of Eden  
  
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Chapter - 12  
  
~  
  
Knives expertly loaded ammo into his revolver and fired, six rapid-fire shots striking the target's center. Allowing himself a small smile of satisfaction, he released the spent shells from the gun and bent to retrieve fresh ones.  
  
Casting another impatiant glance toward the door, he loaded the new shells into his gun without looking and then snapped the chamber shut, the sound briefly echoing across the large room. Another six shots, another six bullets hitting the target's center. He emptied the gun's chamber again, his anger slowly increasing. Where was that woman? He had specifically told her to bring Locke to the training room early this morning, before breakfast. What was taking her so long? He had been waiting for almost an hour already. He had even completed his daily morning exercises earlier than usual in order to make time for the boy's training. Who was she to keep him waiting so long?  
  
The boy had put up quite a fuss when Knives had informed him of the training session and Meryl hadn't looked too pleased either, but he had made his decision and she, true to her word, had backed him completely. Now he wondered if her absence meant she had changed her mind.  
  
He irritably kicked at the shells near his feet, sending them scattering in all directions. If she didn't come soon he might have to do something drastic. When he gave orders he expected them to be followed.   
  
The door opened and Meryl, followed closely by a yawning Locke, entered the room. Knives' breath caught at the sight of her, his anger at her lateness being momentarily forgotten. She was wearing a different outfit than the white uniform-ish one she almost always wore. The skirt and blouse was cut to flatter and draw attention to her figure, and the deep blue-grey color bought out the violet in her eyes even more than usual. Her cheeks were flushed pink and her eyes sparkled with laughter, a warm smile touching her delicate mouth. She was lovely.  
  
As she drew closer, Knives forced his expression into a scowl, remembering his irritation with her tardiness. "Do you know how long I've been waiting!? I told you to bring him early this morning!"  
  
A slight frown crossed her face and she returned his irritated look. "It is early. And do you know how hard it is to get a child up in the morning? It took me almost half an hour to get him awake enough to get him dressed and he still hasn't eaten anything yet."  
  
Pointedly ignoring her excuse, he turned his attention down to Locke, who yawned again and blinked up at him sleepily. Signaling him over, Knives squatted down in front of him to begin the first lesson. "I'm sorry you had to get up so early Locke, but it's time you learned how to handle a gun properly."  
  
The boy bit his lip, looking hesitantly at the weapon Knives held out to him. "Why?"  
  
Knives sighed and drew the gun back slightly, realizing that he'd have to take this slower. "So you'll be able to defend yourself when the situation calls for it."  
  
Locke glanced up and met his eyes, looking nervous. "Can't you and Meryl protect me?"  
  
"Well, of course... whenever it's possible," he sighed, adding more softly, "but we might not always be around Locke. You're going to have to learn to depend on yourself."  
  
The boy clasped his hands tightly behind him and ducked his head, considering his words. Finally, he met Knives' eyes again and nodded. "Okay."  
  
Relieved, Knives searched for some unspent shells but then remembered he had already used the entire box. "Meryl, there's some ammunition boxes over on that shelf," he pointed toward a far wall, "go and grab one of them." Her only action was to cross her arms and raise an expectant eyebrow. Through a clenched jaw he added, "Please."  
  
With a contented smile, she turned and went to do as he asked. Now that her attention was diverted elsewhere, Knives allowed his gaze to drift down Meryl's slim figure, enjoying the way her new clothes hugged her femine curves. Catching Locke's grin out of the corner of his eye, he dropped his attention back to the boy, blushing lightly.  
  
"Meryl looks nice today, doesn't she Knives?" Locke asked, his grin widening.  
  
Knives sniffed disdainfully, but his blush deepened. "I wouldn't know. I never notice how she looks."  
  
Locke smiled, but said nothing more. He had been noticing the way Knives stared at Meryl when she wasn't looking and he held onto the hope that when the time came for her to leave Knives would change his mind and decide to keep her. Knives was extremely possessive and if he ever took it into his head to keep her...  
  
Meryl came back with the box of ammo, taking notice of the way the younger boy was grinning at her and the way the older one was looking anywhere but in her direction. "Um... I got the ammo you wanted, Knives."  
  
Without looking, he reached up and, almost rudely, snatched it out of her hand. Holding back an angry tirade, Meryl forced herself to remain calm, and listened to Knives' smooth and eloquent voice as he carefully explained to Locke about different ammunition types and how to properly load a gun.  
  
Surpressing a grin at the look on Locke's face as he desperately tried to comprehend all the information being thrown at him, Meryl focused her attention on Knives, marveling at the way his mask slipped whenever he was around the boy, the gentleness that was revealed. She smiled, her face softening with warmth. Vash had been right, Knives was changing.   
  
Half-way through a detailed explaination about gun safety locks, Knives happened to glance toward Meryl and caught the glowing smile she was giving him. Flustered, and confused as to why she would be looking at him so... intently, he cut off his speech to Locke and gave her a puzzled look, his eyes narrowing suspiciously. "What are you smiling at?"  
  
Her smile wavered slightly and she blushed, realizing that she had been caught staring... again! "Um... it's just that, well..." she trailed off, not sure how to respond. What was she supposed to say? That she had been smiling at how cute he and Locke were together?   
  
"It's just what?" he asked, raising an eyebrow in question and looking at her as if she had gone crazy.  
  
'What the hell...' "I was smiling because I thought you and Locke looked so cute discussing gun safety," she replied truthfully, and almost laughed at the stunned look that appeared on Knives' face.  
  
"Cute?" he repeated blankly, blinking at her in confusion. He had been called alot of things in his lifetime, but 'cute' most certainly was not one of them.  
  
"Yes, cute." she repeated, a teasing smile working it's way onto her features. "Is there something wrong with that?"  
  
He frowned at her, trying his best to look intimidating, but her smile only widened. When had she stopped being afraid of him? "Knock it off. That smile is annoying." Getting to his feet, he went to stand behind Locke and handed the gun down to the boy. "See that target?" he asked, indicating the target nearest to them, and when the boy nodded he continued, "Try to hit it as close to the center as possible."  
  
Locke glanced down at the weapon in his hands, taking the time to study it closely. He lightly ran his finger along the gun's barrel, then slowly spun the chamber with his thumb, listening to the clicking noises it made. It seemed to Meryl as if he was trying to get a feel for the weapon before he fired it. Or maybe, he was just trying to stall the inevitable for as long as he could.   
  
The boy finally raised the gun, nervously looking down the sight at the target in the distance. Meryl shifted her weight slightly and Locke's eyes automatically flickered to her. Knives reached out and grabbed her arm, pulling her over to stand next to him. He didn't need her accidently distracting the boy's attention. After what seemed like an eternity of holding her breath, Locke finally pulled the trigger, causing her to jump slightly at the sudden noise.   
  
With a small sigh, the boy lowered the weapon and frowned. The bullet had struck the outer-edge of the target; just not the target he had been aiming for. "Well," he muttered quietly, "at least I hit one of them."  
  
Knives crossed his arms and gave a quick, humorless laugh. "Barely."  
  
"Nevermind him, Locke." she said, smiling encouragingly into the boy's dejected face, "It was pretty good for a first try."  
  
"You jerked the trigger, Locke." Knives chastised, coming forward and retrieving the gun from Locke's hands. "You're supposed to squeeze the trigger gently. When you jerk the trigger like that you shift the gun and it throws off your aim. Watch how I do it." He raised the end of the gun toward the target but didn't fire. Instead, a small smile lifted the corner of his mouth and he glanced sideways at Meryl. "Can you see alright from here, Meryl?" he asked innocently, his eyes lighting with amusement, "You can move closer to the target if you like."  
  
She blinked, surprised by his comment, but when his smile deepened into a grin and he softly chuckled at the stunned look on her face, she understood what had just happened. He was teasing her! A smile replaced her stunned look and she joined in his laugher, more amused by him than by his joke. He watched her laugh, a pleased smile on his face and she couldn't help teasing him back. "Thank you very much for your concern Mr. Knives," she smiled, wrinkling her nose at him, "but I happen to be very comfortable where I am."  
  
They laughed again, and Locke couldn't keep the hopeful light from springing to his eyes. Maybe, just maybe, he could manage to keep his family together after all.  
  
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End chapter 12  
  
~  
  
Arika*: Woot! I barely managed to get this posted before the week was up, so here ya go! What was Knives gonna say to Meryl? Well... um, it was probably something along the lines of 'thank you', but he just couldn't get the words out. He still has a long ways to go. ^_^  
  
EvilChibiRuler: Hai! *salutes*  
  
Magnet-Rose: Thank you very much!   
  
Beckira: I was planning on updating sooner, because my writing was going pretty fast at first, but then I had to fill in for someone at work, and then I cut my hand... it was just a bad week for my writing. _   
  
Yma: Yes, Yma-Sama! I've been typing as much as I can, but that dang chapter just keeps going! I can't seem to get to the end. *lol* I'm having way too much fun writing that chapter. I didn't specifically name the book (kinda left it up to the reader's imaginations), but I was thinking of perhaps 'Kilmeny of the Orchard' by L.M Montgomery. Her father collects books as a hobby, but certain books on that planet are rare and *extremely* expensive, so it's probably hard for him to find a copy.  
  
Malster: I hope you're right! Alot of Trigun authors talk about how hard Milly can be to write, and I'm kinda worried. *lol*  
  
trapt-tears: Heh... Knives the 'anti-human activist'. *lol* Thanks for the review, and I hope you'll continue to enjoy this fic. ^_^  
  
WW: *covers up computer screen* What are you, reading over my shoulder? Digging through my chapter outlines? *lol* I actually have, in my notebook, a scrap of paper where I jotted down an outline for another new chapter where Locke decides to do something special for Meryl, but I haven't had time to write a basic draft for it yet. *see Beckira's response for reason*   
  
Shygurl: Thanks for the review!  
  
Jru: Glad to hear it. ^_^  
  
SanoGirl: Wow, another K/M fan. Woot, thanks!  
  
Ana: I will, and thanks for continuing to review my fic! It just doesn't seem complete until you put your stamp of approval on it. ^_^  
  
~  
  
Next time: Meryl's busy, so it's up to Knives to keep Locke entertained... just how will he handle it? And later, Knives takes an interest in knowing more about Meryl. Has he finally made his decision about her? 


	14. Afterdinner talk

Disclaimer: I don't own Trigun, I'm just borrowing it for awhile. Trigun is property of Yasuhiro Nightow, Mad House, Pioneer, and whoever else was smart enough to get a piece of the action. I just know I wasn't. T_T  
  
"..." is talking  
  
'...' is thinking   
  
-----------------  
  
A Glimpse of Eden  
  
-----------------  
  
Chapter - 13  
  
~  
  
Knives strode purposely through the corridors of the ship in the direction of the kitchen area, appearing aggitated and muttering to himself about 'mothers who abandoned their children'.   
  
An hour earlier, Locke had shown up, alone, at the door to the computer room explaining that Meryl had sent him there to 'keep Knives company'. At first, he had been all too happy to spend some time alone with the boy, but after an hour of answering a seemingly endless amount of questions about his work and trying to keep the boy's curious hands off the delicate equipment, Knives' patience had finally reached it's limits and he was forced to take action and seek out Meryl. He had tried taking the boy with him, but Locke had steadfastly refused, saying that Meryl had told him to stay there until she came for him.  
  
And so, Knives had been forced to leave Locke unchaperoned, with only a stack of blank paper and a pen to entertain himself, while he searched out Meryl, determined to unload the energetic boy back on her so he could continue his work in peace.  
  
Arriving at the ship's kitchen area, Knives entered, his eyes searching the room for the small, dark-haired girl whom he could unleash his wrath upon. He had thought up some clever insults on his way there and almost couldn't wait to try them out.   
  
The girl was standing at one of the preparation counters, so absorbed in her cooking that she didn't hear his approach until he was right behind her. "Locke, I thought I told you to stay with Knives until I came for you," she sighed, the irritation evident in her voice.  
  
"I'm not Locke," he replied, crossing his arms and waiting for her to turn around.  
  
Her head jerked up and she turned to face him, surprise widening her eyes, her left hand holding a batter-caked wooden spoon. "Oh, Knives!" she gasped, and held her arms out slightly as if to hide something from his view, "What are you doing here? I thought you'd be working by now."  
  
"I was," he answered, his jaw clenching slightly, "until you sent Locke in. I can't get anything done with him there. I need you to come and take him."   
  
She frowned and turned back to her cooking. "I can't! I sent him there for a reason. I needed someone to watch him until I get this done, and you're the only one availible."  
  
"I'm not a babysitter! Locke is your responsiblity and I'll not have you--" he cut himself short as a sweet-smelling odor distracted his attention. "What's that?" he asked curiously, and pressed closer to get a look at what she was making.  
  
In answer, she reached back over her shoulder and held something in front of his face, and he, surprised, opened his mouth and allowed her to put it in. "Cherries?" he asked after he'd taken a tentative chew, wondering where she got them. Cherries were extremely rare on this planet and also extremely costly.  
  
"Yes," she smiled, glancing back at him, "I was exploring the arboretum with Locke the other day and came across a cherry tree, so I decided to make a special desert tonight as a surprise for him. That's why I sent him to you, so I could make it without him finding out about it until tonight."  
  
"What kind of desert?" he asked, interested.  
  
She turned back to stir a bowl. "It's an old family recipe my mother taught me." She added something to the mixture and resumed stirring. "It gets passed down from mother to daughter. I've never gotten a chance to make it until now."  
  
"What's in it?" he asked, pressing closer and trying to figure out the ingrediants. He thought he smelled cinnamon, but he wasn't sure.  
  
"Oh, no!" she said, spinning around and placing her hands against his chest to keep him away. "No peeking! It's a secret family recipe and no one else is supposed to know!"  
  
He frowned down at her. "I'm not going to steal your family's recipe. I'm just curious."  
  
"You can have a piece later," she insisted, pushing him toward the door, "right now I need you to go and keep an eye on Locke."  
  
"And just how am I supposed to do that?" he muttered, allowing her push him out the door and into the hall, "He won't settle down."  
  
Meryl sighed, and blew a lock of hair out of her face. "You could take him to the arboretum and play with him for awhile."  
  
"Play?" he asked, a mix of confusion and horror settling on his features.  
  
"Yes, play," she smiled, "you just might enjoy it." She waved her hand, dismissing him. "Just keep him busy until dinnertime."  
  
The door slid shut and he was left standing alone in the hall, wondering if all human women were as bossy as Meryl. With a resigned sigh, he set off back toward the computer room. Maybe he would bring Locke to the arboretum for awhile. But he most certainly would not play.  
  
~  
  
Locke hurried his step, practically having to run in order to keep pace with Knives' long stride. "Knives," he finally complained, "I can't keep up with you." The older Plant looked annoyed, but he slowed his pace, and the boy immediately reached for his hand. "How long did Meryl say we have to wait in the arboretum?"  
  
"Until dinner," Knives grunted, his fingers ackwardly tightening around the boy's. He still wasn't used to such things.  
  
When the doors to the arboretum opened, Locke eagerly dashed forward, pulling a disinterested Knives along with him. Stopping under the oak tree, the boy released Knives' hand and grinned up at him. "What shall we play?"  
  
"Play?" Knives asked, beginning to shake his head. "I don't--"  
  
"Meryl sometimes plays hide-and-seek with me," Locke volunteered, "Maybe we can play that."  
  
"I don't think so." Knives responded before sitting down on the grass. "I'm not much for games, Locke."  
  
"Well..." Locke said, kneeling down on the grass next to Knives. "Meryl also tells me stories."  
  
"Does she?" he asked with a note of interest, "What kind of stories does she tell you?"  
  
The boy's face scrunched up in thought. "Um, mostly stories about when she traveled with Vash and her friend. Have you heard them? Some of them are really funny. You should ask her to tell you about the time Vash accidently got his head stuck in his dufflebag." He ended his sentence with a small laugh, obviously still amused by that particular story, and Knives couldn't keep from smiling at the boy.  
  
"Do you know any stories?" the boy now asked, looking up at Knives hopefully.   
  
"Not any like Meryl's been telling you." Knives answered, and after seeing the boy's dejection expression, he hesitantly added, "I might know a few fairy tales, though."  
  
The boy shifted his weight into a more comfortable position and grinned up at Knives. "Can you tell me some?"  
  
"I guess..." he muttered, uncertain. He tilted his head thoughtfully to one side, trying to remember the stories he'd heard in his childhood from Rem.  
  
Locke moved closer and settled comfortably against Knives, his head resting lightly against the older Plant's arm. "Make sure it's a good one."  
  
Knives glanced down at the boy pressed against him, his eyes studying the child with open affection. "Are you ready?" he asked, and when the boy nodded, he began. "There was a boy named Jack--"  
  
"No, no, no." Locke interrupted, shifting his position so he could glance up at Knives, "Fairy tales always begin, 'once upon a time'."  
  
Knives nodded, the hint of an amused smile visible on his lips. "I'm sorry, you're right. I remember now." The boy settled against him again, and Knives tried again, "Once upon a time... there was a boy named Jack..."  
  
~  
  
Meryl laid her fork down and leaned back in her chair, happy with how well dinner had been recieved. The roast had been cooked to perfection, and the mixed greens and bicuits had turned out well, too. But the biggest hit of the meal had been the desert, with her cherry cheesecake earning a rush of compliments from Locke. And even though Knives didn't, as usual, say anything about her cooking, he hadn't objected when she placed a second helping on his plate. He had even opened a bottle of his precious wine, and had even poured her a glass.  
  
She folded her napkin and glanced across the table at Locke. He was fast asleep in his chair, his head slumped back and his mouth slightly open. She turned to Knives and caught his eyes before nodding her head at Locke. He followed her nod to the sleeping the boy and chuckled lightly before turning back to Meryl. "Was our conversation that boring?"  
  
"I guess so," she laughed softly, so as not to wake Locke.  
  
He reached for his glass and took a sip, his eyes studying Meryl from over the rim. She had changed for dinner and was wearing a rose-colored dress that he felt quite suited her. It bought out the flush in her cheeks and her eyes had never looked so lovely.  
  
"Wha... what are you staring at?" she became self-conscious under his open scrutany and glanced down at her plate.  
  
"Your clothes." he replied, setting his glass down. "I got so used to seeing you in that white outfit, it's almost strange to see you wearing something else."  
  
"Oh," she sighed, and reached for her drink. "You mean my uniform."  
  
"Uniform?" he asked, uncertain.  
  
"My Insurance Society uniform. I was wearing it the night you... well, the night you kidnapped me." she said, sending him an annoyed look as she mentioned the last part.  
  
"Insurance Society?" he repeated, still unsure. After a moment his face lit with understanding. "Ah, yes. I believe my brother mentioned something about that while I was in his care. You work for an insurance company and were sent to track my brother."  
  
Smiling, she nodded. "Yes. Well..." she frowned slightly, "Milly and I don't really work for Bernardeli anymore. After Vash settled down and stopped traveling they didn't need us to report on him anymore, so... they kind of put us on 'standby'."  
  
"Standby? What's that?" he asked, sounding amused.  
  
"Since Milly and I didn't want to return to the main office, they stopped paying us and kinda layed us off." she muttered, somewhat embarassed. She had loved working at Bernardeli, but she had wanted to be near Vash even more. "Officially, Milly and I are listed as 'inactive' until further notice."  
  
He laughed softly and shook his head. "How did you ever become an insurance agent anyway? You don't seem the type."  
  
Her face shadowed and she glanced away. "It wasn't really... a choice I had."  
  
"What do you mean?" he asked, immediately curious at her sudden shift in mood.  
  
"It's a long and boring story. Let's just say I became an insurance agent because it was the first job offered to me." She fidgeted with her drink, absently tracing the rim of the glass with her finger. "I'd rather not talk about it."  
  
He watched her silently for a few minutes, realizing just how little he know about the girl. "Why don't we talk about other things then? I'm curious, where do you come from and what does your family do?"  
  
She glanced up sharply. "Why do you ask?"  
  
He shrugged, feigning indifference. "I'm merely curious. I just realized how little I know about you, other than you're an 'inactive' insurance girl and followed my brother around for years." He leaned forward, his face darkening somewhat. "You promised you'd never lie to me."  
  
"I never promised I'd tell you everything about myself either!" she retorted, annoyed. Why the sudden interest in her life? She had nothing to hide, but there were things she wasn't comfortable sharing. Especially with this man.  
  
He tilted his head to one side, studying her. Finally, he leaned back in his chair and asked again, "Where are you from and what does your family do? It's a reasonable question, is it not? I'm not asking you to expose all your family's dark little secrets, I merely wish to understand you better." He reached for his glass again, but didn't drink. "You once mentioned that your father had taught you about computers and from another of your comments I assume he has alot of books; quite an expensive hobby. From this I surmise that your family is quite rich, am I right?"  
  
She sighed and rubbed her fingers against her temple. "You're not going to give up on this, are you?" she asked, and he responded with a triumpant smirk.   
  
Obviously, the man wasn''t going to back off, so with another sigh, she began, trying to keep it as short as possible."I'm from Kent, a town located near the city of December. My grandfather, Dmitri Alexander Stryfe, was one of the town's founding members and his son, my father, is a successful businessman based out of December. I was an only child who my family tried their best to spoil with everything a child of priviledge could ever want. When I was sixteen, my father arranged a marriage for me with one of his business partner's sons, and when I resisted he threatened to disown me." She sighed again, her eyes taking on a faraway look. "We had a huge argument and I ran away. A friend of my mother's got me a job with her husband's insurance society, and here I am."  
  
"You gave up all that just because you didn't want to marry the boy? What was wrong with him?"   
  
"There wasn't anything wrong with him." she mumbled, "He was handsome, smart, funny, had a good head for business and a great future. Alot of girls were crazy about him."  
  
"So then why didn't you marry him?" Knives asked, confused. From Meryl's description, the boy sounded like the kind of mate that human females prefered.  
  
She glanced up to meet his eyes and held them before replying softly, "Because I wasn't in love with him." She looked away, suddenly shy. "I couldn't marry someone I didn't love. It wouldn't be fair to either of us." She frowned, glancing back at him. "So why this sudden interest? I don't see how knowing all this is of any importance to you."  
  
"It's very important to me," he whispered, his eyes locking with hers again. He seemed just about to say something else, when Locke suddenly mumbled something in his sleep and they, almost reluctantly, turned their attention to him, the moment seemingly past.   
  
The boy mumbled something else and Meryl giggled before smiling fondly at the child. "I sure am going to miss him when I leave. The little pest grew on me."  
  
Knives frowned, annoyed by the reminder that she would soon be leaving. "Ah, yes. It's almost been a year, hasn't it? How time flies..." he murmured, almost to himself.   
  
"I hope I can get my jobs back," she mused, not hearing him, "but of course this whole thing wasn't really my fault so maybe they'll understand." She paused for a moment as if to consider something and then nodded to herself, not noticing the way Knives was studying her. "I'm positive they'll give me my jobs back! I worked hard, I was always on time..." she paused again before adding, "Well, mostly on time, anyway."  
  
"I'm quite sure you'll be able to get your jobs back," he said calmly, "If I allow you to leave, that is."  
  
She glanced sharply at him, her eyes widening. "What do you mean, 'if you allow me to leave'? I only agreed to stay for a year, after that I assumed I was free to go."  
  
"That was the original arrangement," he replied, looking bored, "but perhaps I've changed my mind."  
  
"You... you can't do that!" she gasped.  
  
"Can't I?" he asked, sounding amused. "You forget, you belong to me."  
  
"I don't belong to anyone!" she replied, unconsciously rising out of her chair in anger.  
  
"Of course you do. My brother, Locke," he nodded toward the sleeping boy, "and you all belong to me."   
  
"That's not true!" she yelled, and recieved a warning look from Knives.  
  
"Shh! Do you want to wake the boy?" he asked, and watched as she slumped back into her seat, staring at him in shock. "Don't look so scared, Meryl. It was only a thought."  
  
After a minute, she rose to her feet, still appearing stunned. "I think, I should get Locke to bed now." She moved to the other side of the table, deciding to ignore Knives' words for now. Maybe he was only teasing her again. He had always seemed so eager to be rid of her in the past, why would he suddenly change his mind? It didn't make any sense.   
  
She stood at the side of Locke's chair, wondering how she was going to carry him to bed, when Knives drained the rest of his drink and rose to his feet. "I'll carry him." Stepping past her, he easily lifted the small boy in his arms, being careful not to wake him. "Go on ahead," he said, his voice lowered to a whisper, "I'll follow."  
  
Meryl exited the dining area and walked out into the hall, heading toward Locke's room, Knives silently trailing along behind her. Upon entering the boy's room, Meryl pulled the covers down and Knives gently deposited Locke on the bed. Brushing past Knives, Meryl removed Locke's shoes and pulled the covers back up, tucking them securely around him. He murmured her name in his sleep and she bent down to press a soft kiss to his forehead.  
  
She turned off the light and headed toward her room, Knives once again silently following behind her, even though his own room was in the opposite direction. His silence was almost eerie and she almost hoped he would say something to break it, but then was afraid of what he might say if he did.   
  
Upon reaching her door, Meryl turned around and forced a cheerful smile on her face, despite the uneasiness she felt. "Thank you for walking me to my room, Knives. I'll see you tomorrow. Good night."   
  
She reached to press the button to open the door and couldn't contain a gasp of surprise when Knives reached out and pushed her hand away. Stepping aside, she pressed her back against the door to her room, trying desperately to hide her nervousness. He stepped close and looked down at her, studying her calmly. Her eyes darted to the side and she wondered if she could manuver around him if the need arose. Almost as if catching her thoughts, he leaned down and placed his hands against the door on either side of her head, blocking any possible escape she might attempt. She bit her lip as he leaned down closer to her and she wondered briefly if he was going to kiss her.   
  
He smiled and whispered into her ear. "I said don't look so scared, Meryl. I was only... half-serious about what I said earlier." With a mocking smirk, he turned and started down the hall toward his own room, leaving behind a flustered Meryl Stryfe confused as to why his nearness has caused her heart to race.  
  
-----------------  
  
End chapter 13  
  
~  
  
Magnet-Rose: Heh, thank you!!!  
  
Arika*: I'm glad you finally updated your fic. Cliffhangers drive me insane. _  
  
angelarms: Vash will be back soon. There's not many chapters in my fic left. :(  
  
Neptune Butterfly: Wow... I think that's the longest review I've ever received! Hmmm, I think that if Meryl and Knives ever did get together, he'd have to put off his 'wipe out humanity' plans, at least while she was still alive anyway. I made you blush!? *lol* Actually... *whispers* I was kinda embarassed to post that part, too. ^_^  
  
Akiko Hitori: Thanks!!!  
  
Yma: Thank you for your continued support! And also thanks for updating your fic. *sniff* Poor Pete...  
  
Beckira: Thanks for the review!  
  
Mabel4gs: Nothing much really changed in Knives after his fight with Vash and the 'rehabilitation' that followed, at least nothing major, but he did promise his brother to behave himself if he was allowed to return to his ship, and until he can gather more followers to replace the Gung-Ho Guns, he plans to do just that. At least, that was his original plan before he found Locke. Nope, I don't have kids and I have no younger siblings either, so how Locke acted while he was growing was mostly guess work on my part. I'm so relieved to hear I succeeded. And thanks for telling me about the mistake in chapter 7! I'm usually really careful with my writing, but I guess they slip through occasionaly. ^_^  
  
WW: Thank you! I appreciate it! ^_^  
  
Kelly Vingelli: Thank you!!!  
  
Ana: Ah, you've finally decided who you're going to root for, huh? *lol* Thanks, Ana! ^_^  
  
Calumongal: Thanks! And good luck writing your term papers!   
  
SanoGirl: Thank you, and I'll definately try! ^_^v  
  
~  
  
Next time: The chapter that I've been working on! And it's still not complete yet! *curses work schedule* I'll try to finish it soon, and then I still have to write another new chapter... *ugh* Anyway, next time: Meryl and Knives aren't speaking to each other, is it up to Locke to step in and fix things? And when that fails miserably, he decides to take a more drastic approach to the situation. 


	15. Locke's drastic intervention

Disclaimer: I don't own Trigun, I'm just borrowing it for awhile. Trigun is property of Yasuhiro Nightow, Mad House, Pioneer, and whoever else was smart enough to get a piece of the action. I just know I wasn't. T_T  
  
"..." is talking  
  
'...' is thinking   
  
-----------------  
  
A Glimpse of Eden  
  
-----------------  
  
Chapter - 14  
  
~  
  
Meryl entered the room she had glumly dubbed the 'torture room', her arms filled with dirty laundry. Dumping the load on the floor near the machine that cleaned clothes all by itself, which she had decided to steal and take with her back to Spring, she knelt down next to the pile and began to separate the colors from the whites. Grabbing a pair of Locke's pants, she reached into the pocket and grimanced when her hand met something sticky. Quickly removing her hand from the pocket, she made a disgusted face when she saw that it was now covered in used bubblegum. She studied her hand grimly, and made a mental note to have a 'word' with the boy. She sighed, and began to pull at the gum with her fingers.   
  
Getting to her feet, she left the laundry room and headed for the bathroom, hoping that a healthy scrubbing with soap and water would remove the gum. Drying her hands afterward, she glanced into the mirror above the sink and noticed a pair of dark blue eyes peering at her from around the door frame.   
  
Meeting her eyes in the mirror, Locke stepped into the room with a smile. "Are you busy, Meryl?"  
  
"Well... I was about to do the laundry," she answered, turning around to face him.  
  
"Oh..." he said distractedly, before his blue eyes suddenly widened. "Um... Meryl? I think I might have left something in my pants yesterday."  
  
"Yes..." she muttered darkly, "I found it." She sighed and leaned back against the counter. "Locke, why was there used bubblegum in your pocket?"  
  
The boy winced and glanced down, studying his shoe before replying, "Well, last night you told me not to chew gum at the dinner table and I had to put it somewhere."  
  
"Locke," she began with another sigh, "how many times have I told you--"  
  
"I'm sorry, Meryl," he said quietly, his shoulders sagging.  
  
Meryl shook her head, but moved to give the boy a hug. She never could stay angry with him for long. "Just be more careful next time, okay?"  
  
"Okay," he agreed, his face brightening into a smile. "Are you busy right now? Can you come with me for a few minutes?"  
  
"What for?" she asked.  
  
"I... um, want to show you something." he mumbled and then gave her a slightly nervous grin.  
  
Her mother's instinct was telling her something was amiss, but she chose to ignore it. "Alright, Locke. As long as it doesn't take too long."  
  
Taking her hand, he lead her into a part of the ship she wasn't very familiar with. "Are you sure you know where you're going, Locke?" she asked, slightly uneasy when she realized she had no idea where they were, "You aren't lost, are you?"  
  
"It's okay, Meryl," he gave her a reassuring smile, "We're almost there."  
  
After a few more minutes of walking, Locke halted in front of a door, a happy grin on his face, and pressed a button on the panel. Still unsure as to what this entire thing was all about, Meryl stepped inside, and felt her smile fade at the sight of Knives casually leaning against a far wall. Her mouth now formed a frown as she glared at the man. She had barely spoken to him and had avoided any contact with him since their encounter outside her room over a week ago. For a brief moment she wondered if he had sent Locke to bring her there, but as she watched him straighten up from his position against the wall and his expression become annoyed, she realized that he was as surprised to see her as she was him.  
  
"What is this, Locke? Why do you bring her here?" Knives asked, his eyes never leaving her face even though he spoke to the boy.  
  
"My question exactly," she muttered, her eyes locking darkly with Knives', "What's this about, Locke?"  
  
The boy stepped forward, his eyes darting between the two nervously. "Well... um, you two had a big fight or something and weren't speaking to each other, so I thought that maybe..." he trailed off and dropped his eyes to the floor.  
  
"You thought," Knives finished for him, "that if the girl and I just 'happened' to meet, we might be able to work out our differences and everything would go back to the way it was before. Isn't that right?"  
  
The boy glanced hopefully up toward Knives and nodded.  
  
"Well, you can forget about it," Knives said somewhat roughly, "because I have nothing to say to her."  
  
He headed toward the door to leave, but as he passed Meryl, she muttered something that made him stop in his tracks. "What was that?" he asked, turning his head so he could look at her.  
  
"I said," she answered defiantly, crossing her arms and glaring at him, "that's right, run away. It's what you do best, isn't it?"  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked, his eyes narrowing.  
  
"You're supposed to be so smart, figure it out yourself," she shot back, too angry to worry about his temper and what he might do to her if he lost it.  
  
"Listen, I've had just about enough of your--"  
  
"Knock it off!" Locke interjected, pushing his way between the two adults. "No more fighting! You two were getting along so great before, what happened?"  
  
"Ask her! She's the one who called me an 'elitist' and a 'hypocrite' and then refused to talk to me!" Knives spat out.  
  
"That's because you are! And I never would have said anything in the first place if you hadn't acted like such a jerk the night before!"  
  
"I said I wasn't serious!" he yelled back, "And anyway, only a crazy person would ever want to keep a tempermental woman like you around!"  
  
"Yeah..." Meryl muttered darkly, "I'd heard that rumor about you."  
  
"What... did... you... say!?" Knives hissed.  
  
Locke sighed and shook in head in disbelief as he watched the two continue their argument. Sometimes he just couldn't understand how immature and stubborn the two could be, especially when it came to each other. It was obvious, even to a child, that the only thing preventing the two from making up was their stubborn pride. From what he had been able to pick up in bits and pieces over the past week, their fight had started when Knives had casually mentioned that he might keep Meryl instead of sending her away when the year was up, and it had only esculated the next morning during breakfast when Meryl had lost her temper and called him some choice names. The two hadn't talked to each other in a week, and it made him nervous. Usually, their fights didn't last so long and they were never so... 'intense', and with only three months to go before Meryl was to leave they didn't have much time together left.   
  
The boy sighed again, and then noticed that their attention wasn't on him or the door. He glanced around the room, an idea begining to take shape. The room was small, and obviously used for storage as there were a few crates laying around, but other than that it was practically empty. And if this room was like the other storage rooms he had explored, then that meant the door didn't have an inside unlocking mechanism.   
  
He held his breath, trying to decide if he had the courage to pull it off. The forced time alone together might finally bring an end to their silly argument, if they didn't kill each other first. He released his breath, his mind set. He'd probably get it afterwards, but as long as he was punished by Knives and Meryl together, than it was certainly worth it.  
  
"Argh! That's it! I've had enough of you! Com'on, Locke we're--" Meryl glanced around and finally noticed that the boy was no longer by her side. "Locke? Where'd you go?"  
  
"He probably became as digusted with you as I am and left." Knives groused.  
  
"Shove it, Knives!" Meryl barked, moving toward the exit in search of Locke. She hoped he wasn't upset with her.  
  
"Shove it?" he repeated with a blank stare, apparently unfamilar with the term.  
  
"Yeah," she mumbled to herself as she reached for the panel, "shove it up your a--" she frowned, and abruptly cut off the rest of her sentence when the door failed to open. "The door's broken." she grumbled, irritably continuing to mash on the button with her finger.  
  
"Step aside, woman." Knives moved forward and pushed her hand away before she could do any damage. "Only an idiot would have trouble operating a simple door panel."  
  
He pressed the button and frowned when the door didn't open. "Ha! What was that you said Knives? Something about an idiot?"  
  
"Shut up." he said brusquely and with more than a hint of annoyance "This panel won't override the automatic door lock."  
  
"What? No way. You're just not doing it right." she mumbled and reached for the panel again, only to find her wrist held by Knives.  
  
"I said it's locked. If you keep messing with it like that you're going to break it." He released her wrist disdainfully.  
  
"Why would it be locked..." she muttered, rubbing her wrist lightly with her other hand. He hadn't hurt her, but she wanted to erase the feel of his touch. "What kind of room has an auto-whatever lock?"  
  
"This is a storage room. When someone closes the door from the outside panel the room automatically locks," he answered quietly. "It's a security measure."  
  
"You mean we're stuck in here until someone releases the lock from the other side!?"  
  
"Of course not." he replied somewhat arrogantly, "I can easily release the locking mechanism if I re-connect this panel to override the outside one."  
  
"Will that take long?" she asked sourly.  
  
"Not very." he answered, already begining to remove the panel's covering to gain access to the wiring, "Fifteen minutes, maybe twenty at most."  
  
Meryl sighed with relief and moved to sit on one of the crates to wait. Twenty minutes wasn't that long. She supposed she could put up with Knives' company until then.   
  
~  
  
Meryl shifted her weight, growing uncomfortable from sitting too long. Knives had been working at the conrol panel for almost two hours now and he didn't seem any closer to getting the door open now than when he had started.   
  
"Has it been twenty minutes, yet?" she asked sarcastically, and saw him visibly wince as her words hit their target. He paused in his work briefly to shoot her a dark look, then resumed his efforts with the wiring without a word.  
  
A few minutes later, Meryl was startled from her boredom-induced attempt at counting the floor tiles, when Knives suddenly threw the panel's covering across the room in frustration. "The damn thing is impossible!" he raged.  
  
"I thought you said it was 'easy'." she replied, getting to her feet.  
  
He gave her another dark look, obviously not pleased at being reminded of his earlier boast. "Disabling the autolock is easy," he insisted irritably, "but the system is refusing to give me any access to the locking function at all. It's almost as if..." he trailed off, his brow knitting in thought.  
  
"It's almost as if what?" she prodded.  
  
He moved back to the panel and reached inside, grabbing for a new tangle of wires. After a few minutes, the small screen above the panel flashed on with the words; ACCESS DENIED: MINIMUM SECURITY LEVEL; 2  
  
"Level 2?" Knives repeated to himself, staring at the screen in shock, his suspicion confirmed.  
  
"What's that mean?" Meryl asked, coming forward to stare at the screen.  
  
"It means that it's not just the auto-lock that's keeping us in here." he muttered, turning his attention from the screen to glance down at her, "It appears that someone has also told the security system to ignore this panel's commands."  
  
She frowned, trying to understand what that meant. Then, her eyes widened and she glanced up at him in surprise. "You mean... Locke shut us in here on purpose!?"  
  
"It would seem so." he said dryly, his hand reflexively tightening around the wires, and then swore when two of the loose wires made contact and sparked. He jerked his hand away, glaring at the wires with unrestrained menace.  
  
"Are you okay?" Meryl asked with a note of concern, reaching for his hand and checking to make sure there was no damage. "You didn't get burned, did you?" She sighed, relieved that he hadn't been hurt, and glanced back up to ask him a question. "Why would he have locked us in here? It doesn't make sense."  
  
"Of course it does," Knives responded, "to him anyway. He probably thinks that this will somehow get us to--" he looked down, and abrupty ended his sentence when he found himself staring into her eyes; his mind absently wondering how a human could have such beautiful eyes, and such a strange color...  
  
"Are you sure you're alright, Knives?" she asked uncertainly. He was giving her that funny look again.  
  
He tensed, irritated with himself for getting distracted, and over something as idiotic as the girl's eye color. "Of course I am," he replied stiffly. "I was just wondering how much longer you were going to continue to hold my hand, that's all." he finished with a look of annoyance.  
  
Her eyes widened and she immediately released her grip on his hand, which she hadn't even realized she was still holding. "If it bothered you so much," she retorted, her face red with embarassment, "you should have said something sooner! And I don't know why I was worried about you in the first place," she continued, her anger building, "you're nothing but an egotistical, self-centered-- hey! Are you listening to me!?"  
  
He wasn't. His attention had waivered halfway through her tirade, when he had suddenly noticed her hair being stirred by an unseen wind. He turned his back to her, ignoring her completely, while his eyes eagerly searched for the source of the breeze.   
  
Meryl watched him take a few slow steps away from her, his eyes scanning his surroundings as if searching for something. "Um, Knives?" she asked hesistantly, slightly worried about this odd behavior. "Are you alright over there?" He didn't answer, nor give any indication that he had even heard her. His only action was to halt a small distance away and raise one of his hands toward the ceiling. In Meryl's opinion, the man must have finally gone completely bananas.  
  
Knives moved his hand higher, closer to one of the gratings in the ceiling, and was rewarded by a cool breeze blowing across his fingers. He had found the air vent. Lowering his hand to his side, he frowned in disapointment. The vent was much too small for a normal-sized person to fit through. Too small for anyone but a child... --His eyes widened with a sudden thought and he glanced over to study Meryl, who was looking at him a bit apprehensively-- ...Yes, it was too small for anyone but a child... or a really small woman.  
  
He turned around and gesturing for her to come forward. "Come here."  
  
"Why?" she asked, perfectly content to remain where she was; away from him.  
  
"Just come here!" he insisted, and when she still appeared hesistant, he sighed and pointed toward the grating above him. "There's an air vent here. I'm going to lift you up into it."  
  
She slowly approached, her eyes focused on the grating he had indicated. "And what good will that do?"  
  
"There's another grating out in the hall. You can crawl through the vent to gain access to it, then drop down into the hallway and unlock the door from the outside panel." he explained.  
  
"What!?" she asked in horror, "You want me to crawl around up there!?"  
  
"Is that a problem?"   
  
She bit her lip, hesitant about revealing the real reason for her reluctance. "There might be mice up there." she answered instead.  
  
A dismissive snort. "I highly doubt it."  
  
"I don't think I can fit." she hedged.  
  
"Move it, woman!" Knives snapped at her, his frustration building.  
  
"Don't order me around! I'm not your property, even if you seem to think I am!" she snapped back angrily.  
  
"For the last time, I said I wasn't serious! What more do you want from me!?"  
  
"I want you to apologize!"  
  
He went still, a glimmer of surprise and... something she couldn't recognize, in his eyes. "Hurry up." he said quietly after a moment, averting his eyes from hers, "I don't want to be stuck in here forever."  
  
Fighting back tears of frustration, she moved to stand closer to him. "Fine!" she shot back, "Just make sure to watch where you put your hands."  
  
Knives grumbled something incoherent and bent to wrap his arms around her slim waist. He lifted her toward the grating, surprised at just how little she weighed. As strong as the girl was, she was also incredibly frail and slight, and he took special care not to hurt her. "Can you reach it?" he asked, glancing up at her.  
  
The raised her arms above her head and frowned when she barely managed to touch the grate with her fingertips. "No... lift me higher. And I said," she dropped her arms and glared down at him, "to watch your hands! And don't think for even one second that I'm through telling you what I think of you-- ow!" she exclaimed when her head made sudden contact with the grating.  
  
"Oops," Knives said innocently, "I must have misjudged the distance."  
  
"Yeah, I'll bet." she muttered, angrily rubbing her head. She reached back up and rattled the grating, trying to pull it off. "It's stuck."  
  
"Try harder!" he insisted, and tightened his grip around her legs in order to give her better support.  
  
She gritted her teeth and pulled for all she was worth, but... "It's not coming off, Knives." she sighed, and then thought of something. "Maybe if I had something to pry it loose...?"  
  
Knives glanced around and his eyes caught sight of the panel covering he had thrown earlier. Without loosening his grip on Meryl, he managed to scoot the cover over with his foot and then get the toe of his boot under it. With relative ease, he kicked the covering straight up and into his waiting hand. "Here," he said to Meryl, "use this."  
  
She reached down and took it, trying not to look too impressed. Raising the metal covering over her head, she smashed it against a corner of the grating. After a few tries, she had made enough headway to wedge the thin part of the covering between the grating and the ceiling, and she now used the covering to pry it loose. Dust and dirt spilled from the sides of the grating and Meryl shut her eyes and turned her head away to avoid breathing away of it in. Dropping the covering, she now used her hands to pull away the grating, which she then also dropped unceremoniously to the floor.  
  
Meryl stared into the small, dark space above her, trying to ignore the memories of when she was four and, while playing hide-and-seek with her cousins, had hid in an old steamer trunk and then found that she couldn't open the closed lid while inside. Her mother, alerted by her cries, had found her no more than ten minutes later and let her out, but the time trapped in the trunk had affected her greatly and even now, years afterward, she still had trouble with being in dark, enclosed spaces.  
  
"Are you alright?" Knives asked softly, after a few minutes of inactivity on her part.  
  
She glanced down at him, all the while trying to gain control of her fear. "Is this a bad time to mention I'm slightly claustrophobic?"   
  
He frowned. "Just how 'slightly' claustrophobic?"  
  
"I can handle the tight space okay, but if it's too dark for me to see," she took a shaky breath before finishing, "I might start to panic."  
  
"Great..." he sighed, and she could feel his breath against her leg. "Can you handle this?"  
  
"I don't know... I guess I'll have to, won't I?" she said, and he could hear the determination in her voice.  
  
"Attagirl," he whispered to himself, his respect for her growing although he'd never admit it, "there's the Meryl I know."  
  
"How far until I reach the other grating?" she asked.  
  
"Thirty feet, maybe less." he answered quickly, before she lost her nerve and changed her mind about going through with this. "Once you're in, just crawl straight ahead and you'll come across it soon enough."  
  
She turned her attention back to the vent and placed a hand on either side of the opening. "Knives? Promise me that if I don't make it, you won't tell Locke I died wedged in a vent, okay?" she joked weakly, but also managed to sound dead-serious at the same time.  
  
Knives laughed, he couldn't help it. "Ready?" he asked, and when she nodded he easily hoisted her up into the vent. "Meryl?" he called up a moment later, peering into the darkness above him. "Is everything alright?"  
  
A cough, and then Meryl's voice called down. "When was the last time you cleaned up here? This is disgusting!"  
  
"Nevermind that now," he smiled, before becoming more serious, "Is there enough room up there for you to move around?"  
  
A grunt, and then her voice answered. "Yeah, I guess so. This... this isn't so bad." she said after a moment, a slight waver in her voice.  
  
"Don't lie." he admonished her lightly. "You may have to force the grating in the hall. Just kick it out. It should be easier to open that this one was."  
  
The smile, which had lit her face at his slight reprimand a moment before, now faded as the gravity of the situation sunk in. What the hell was she doing up here!? She couldn't even see her hand in front of her face, what if she somehow passed the grating and got lost? Or what if when she found the grating she couldn't open it? Her breathing became more rapid as the darkness seemed to close in on her, amplifying her doubts and making the vent seem even smaller than it was. She was just about ready to back up and get the hell out of there, when Knives' voice filtered up into the vent.  
  
"It's alright, Meryl," he said calmly, "You can do this."  
  
She closed her eyes tightly for a moment. He was right, she could do this, she just needed to focus. Her resolve firmly in place, she crawled forward through the vent, trying her best to avoid brushing her head or arms against the sides. She moved slowly and cautiously, not knowing what lay ahead of her. Once, when she felt a spiderweb touch her cheek she couldn't surpress a startled gasp, but she brushed it away and continued on. After another minute of crawling, she spotted a dim shaft of light in front of her and quickened her pace, eager to be out of the constrained space and oppressive darkness.   
  
Arriving at the grating, she shifted her weight and managed to position herself on her backside. She gave it a firm kick with her foot, and felt a wave of panic when it didn't budge. Another swift kick, this time with both feet, and she released a gasp of joy when it partly gave way. Another kick, and the grating dropped to the floor, filling the opening with light from the hallway. She scooted forward until her legs hung down from the vent and then she gripped the edge of the opening with her hands before lowering herself out of the vent completely. She hung there momentarily, before letting go and allowing herself to drop to the floor, landing near the grating with a rather loud 'thump'.  
  
After rubbing her sore end and brushing off the dust from her clothes, she moved toward the panel after only briefly (much to her credit) considering leaving Knives where he was. She pressed the button and was relieved when the door finally slid open, Knives hastily stepping out into the hall.   
  
His eyes glanced her once over briefly, making sure she was alright, before he clenched his jaw and asked, "Where do you think he is?"  
  
She tilted her head and thought it over a moment before finally answering, "Where do you think an unsupervised child would be? He's probably in the kitchen." she frowned before adding, "And ruining his dinner eating cake no doubt." She sighed. "I still can't believe he locked us in there, but he can be awfully stubborn about things and I guess when he saw his original idea wasn't going to work he had to improvise."  
  
They started off, Knives slightly in the lead. "You do know that the boy learned that from you."  
  
"What?" she asked, hurrying her step to match his.  
  
"The boy has a decidedly stubborn streak, and it's obvious that he picked it up from you." he replied, and stopped walking to consider it for a moment, a thoughtful expression on his face. "The boy is quite versed in manipulation, as well."  
  
"Which he obviously picked up from you!" Meryl interjected forcably.  
  
"Yes..." he mused to himself thoughtfully, "and if I weren't so upset with him right now I think I'd be rather proud of that fact. It took me over a year to learn how to properly manipulate others and Locke managed it in only nine months."  
  
"You're joking, right?" she asked, shaking her head in disbelief. Surely he couldn't be serious. He gave her a somewhat embarassed half-smile and she rolled her eyes. "Honestly, Knives," she grumbled, and resumed walking, "sometimes I worry about you."  
  
"Do you?" he asked, easily catching up with her and matching her pace.   
  
"Do I what?" she mumbled around a confused frown.  
  
"Worry about me?" he asked softly, and smiled when she stopped to glare at him.  
  
"What kind of question is that!? Of course I worry about you." she answered, and then hastied to add, "and Locke, and Vash, and Milly. I worry about all of you."  
  
"Are still still angry with me?" he asked now, his head tilted to one side, his eyes studying her carefully.  
  
A long moment passed, and Knives began to wonder if she was ever going to answer him. "No," she finally replied, her voice quieter than usual, "I'm not angry with you anymore. At least, not as much as I was."  
  
He started toward the kitchen again, this time more slowly, and she kept pace alongside him. They were silent for a few minutes, each with their own thoughts, until Meryl spoke up again. "Knives?"  
  
"Hmmm?"  
  
"What do you think we should do about Locke? I mean, we don't want to be locked in a closet everytime we have a disagreement."  
  
"I agree." he concured, then paused before continuing, "The boy needs to be punished."  
  
She nodded slightly. "Yes, I suppose he does. I'll come up with something lat--."  
  
"I'll do it." he interrupted. "If the boy is to be punished then I should be the one to decide how."  
  
She frowned. "I really think I should do it. You're more upset by this than I am, and I don't want you to take all your anger out on Locke."  
  
"It's really no concern of yours." he said cooly, and she realized how rude her words must have sounded.  
  
Meryl bit her lip, angry with herself. Why couldn't she have just kept her mouth shut? Now Knives was upset with her again, and this time it was her fault. She reached out and placed her hand lightly on his arm to get his attention.  
  
He turned and shot her an annoyed look. "What is it now!?"  
  
"It's just...I just wanted to say..." she trailed off, unsure how to begin. He crossed his arms and tapped his foot impatiently against the metal floor, and although he appeared to be bored and disinterested, she knew he was curious to know what she had to say. "I just wanted to apologize." she rushed ahead, and saw surprise flicker in his eyes, "What I said was uncalled for. I know you'll be fair with Locke." At least she hoped so.  
  
He studied her through narrowed eyes, apparently waiting for the other shoe to drop, and when she said nothing more he gave a slight shrug. "Whatever." he mumbled, and Meryl had to stiffle a grin. He was pretending to be nonchalant, but she knew he had been totally unprepared for her to apologize. 'Don't know me as well as you thought you did, huh, Knives?'  
  
Knives frowned, a look of uncertainy crossing his features, and Meryl took a small breath before continuing. "Look, Knives... this week started off on a bad note and only managed to get worse. Why don't we forget who said what and put it all behind us? If not just for our sake, than for Locke's. This entire week has obviously been hard on him, otherwise I don't think he would have done what he did."  
  
He glanced away from her, and she sensed he still wasn't ready to let it go just yet, so she decided to add the one thing she thought would win him over. After all, one of them had to be an adult about the whole thing. So with a light laugh she added, "And truth be told, I've kind of missed our talks about literature during breakfast."  
  
A faint smile touched his lips, and Meryl held out her hand to him. "How about it, Knives?" she asked softly, "Truce?"  
  
He turned back to her, his eyes studying her pro-offered hand for a moment before looking up to meet her eyes. Then, without breaking his gaze, he stepped forward and took her hand in his, his face softening slightly. "Truce." he murmured.  
  
She smiled and then tried to pull back her hand, only to find it more firmly held in his. "K-Knives?" she gasped uncertainly. She glanced up at him, a look of confusion on her face, and then suddenly became aware of just how close she was standing to him. She met his eyes almost shyly, and was amazed to discover that he seemed just as surprised by his actions as she had been. Her eyes left his and she hesitantly studied his face before her attention came to rest on his mouth, her mind absently realizing that despite their differences in height, it would be relatively easy to brush her lips against his.  
  
Knives' eyes widened slightly, and his fingers tightened around hers. "Meryl..." he whispered softly, a hint of urgency in his voice, "I want--"  
  
The sound of a door opening snapped Meryl back to reality and she pratically tore her hand from his. Ignoring Knives' frustrated sigh, she pulled away from him and tried to hide her flushed cheeks, wishing that he didn't have this kind of affect on her. It was becoming harder and harder for her to ignore.   
  
A flash of disappointment crossed his face, and he appeared to be about to say something, but he apparently changed his mind and glanced down the corridor instead. She followed his gaze and there, with a spoon stuck in his mouth, was Locke. Her eyes drifted down to the bowl he held in his hands and she noticed with a gasp of shock that he was eating HER ice cream!  
  
"Locke!" she shouted down the hallway, and saw him jump at the sound of her voice.  
  
He slowly turned and stared down the hallway, his eyes growing huge when he saw them both standing there. He took the spoon from his mouth, and for one brief moment Meryl had the feeling that he was considering making a break for it. Knives must have had the same thought, for he took a step forward and gestured to the boy.  
  
"Locke! Come here!" he ordered, his voice firm.  
  
The boy came forward slowly, and even though he knew Knives would never hurt him, Meryl could tell he was worried. Locke stopped to place his bowl on the floor before walking the rest of the way to stand in front of Knives, his head hung low and his hands clasped tightly behind his back.  
  
"Meryl and I getting locked in that storage room wasn't an accident, was it, Locke?" Knives asked, struggling to keep his voice level.  
  
The boy shook his head. "No." he whispered, his eyes raising to meet the older Plant's.  
  
Knives took a breath, obviously trying to remain calm, but failing. "Just what were you thinking!?" he yelled. "Don't you know how dangerous that was!? What if something had happened or you had been injured!? Meryl and I wouldn't have been able to do a damn thing! Did you even think of that!?"  
  
"I'm sorry." Locke whispered, his voice breaking.  
  
"'I'm sorry' isn't good enough!" Knives shouted back, causing the boy to wince and glance down at the floor again.  
  
Meryl stepped forward, laying one hand against Knives' back and the other on his arm in an effort to calm him. Yelling at the boy certainly wasn't going to help matters, and she sure didn't want Knives' judgement to be clouded by anger when he decided Locke's punishment. Knives didn't acknowledge her presence, but she felt the muscles in his back at first tense, then relax at her touch.  
  
Knives closed his eyes, his lips moving silently, and Meryl got the distinct impression that he was counting to ten. He sighed, his eyes focusing once again on the small boy before him. "You're going to have to be punished. You know that, don't you, Locke?" Knives asked, his voice calm and firm once more.  
  
Locke nodded. "I know..." he said quietly, then did his best to look pitiful; it was his best defense when he was in trouble and it had always worked on Meryl, maybe it would work on Knives, too.  
  
Knives tapped a finger against his lips, trying to decide on the proper punishment for the boy. He didn't want to be too harsh, but then he didn't want to be too lenient, either. A minute later a small smile lit his face, as he thought of what he considered to be a fitting punishment. "Alright, Locke," he began, "Since you apparently have nothing better to do with your time than cause trouble, from now on your training will be five days a week instead of just four, and I'm also making it two hours a session instead of just one and a half."  
  
"Aw, Knives!" Locke moaned, looking at him pleadingly, "Not more training!"  
  
"Yes, more training." he repeated firmly. "You need the practice."  
  
Locke looked to Meryl, but he obviously realized that he wasn't going to get any help there, so he sighed and nodded his head. "Yes, Knives."  
  
"And Locke," Meryl added, "you'll also get no dessert for two weeks."  
  
He raised horrified eyes to hers. "No dessert!?" What was the point of living!?  
  
"No dessert?" Knives echoed, sounding as if he considered that a bit drastic. He knew as well as she of the boy's love of sweets.  
  
"No dessert," she repeated firmly, "for two weeks."  
  
For a moment, the boy looked as if he wanted to protest, but apparently thought better of it. He sure didn't need it raised to three weeks instead of just two for being impertinent. "Yes, Meryl."  
  
"Now I want you to go wait in the library, Locke. You'll be helping me the rest of the day."  
  
"Yes, Knives." The boy turned and started to leave, but stopped a short distance away. "Aren't you coming?" he asked, looking back over his shoulder.  
  
"I'll be along in a minute. I need to discuss something with Meryl first." he answered, ignoring the curious look Meryl gave him. He waited until the boy was out of earshot before speaking. "About what I said last week..."  
  
She shook her head, attempting to cut him off. "No, Knives! It's okay, really."  
  
"No, I have to say this." he insisted, raising a hand to silence her protests. She looked uncertain, but nodded for him to go ahead. "I won't force you to stay." he began, and when she stared up at him in surprise, he added, "but I won't force you to leave, either. Whatever decision you make at the end of the year is fine. It's up to you."  
  
She smiled. One of those smiles that not only seemed to light up the room, but also to warm the soul. "Knives, I-- thank you."  
  
His eyes softened and he reached his hand to her hair, causing her eyes to widen and her pulse to quicken. "Knives?" she whispered.  
  
He smiled, ever so slightly, and pulled his hand back from her hair, letting a small, gray object float to the ground. Her eyes followed it on it's path downward, her mind absently trying to comprehend... was that a--  
  
"Dust bunny." Knives said, a trace of amusement in his voice. Then, with another brief smile, he turned and walked off down the hall.  
  
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End chapter 14  
  
~  
  
Magnet-Rose: Yes, he most certainly is. But whether I mean that he's possessive or falling for her you'll have to figure out for yourself. ^_^  
  
Arika*.D: Woah, I hope your still not up on the 'cliffs of doom'. I took so long to update this time... I was distracted. :(  
  
angelarms: As it stands, my fic is REALLY close to ending. I solved my ending problem, though. I just hope everyone likes it. Nice review! Thanks!  
  
LazyCat9: My hand is all better now, thanks! ^_^  
  
SanoGirl: Thanks! Glad you liked the Locke/story part. I added that bit just before I posted and I didn't really have time to go over it so I didn't know if it was going to work or not.   
  
Akiko: Yay! Thank you!  
  
Yma: Ack! I'm SO sorry about taking so long! Like I said in my review for your fic (which is VERY good people, go and read it) I kinda got sidetracked. Heh, I think no matter how much Knives changes, he'll always be a bit of a B*. ^_^  
  
Beckira: Hope you liked it! Thanks again for the reviews!  
  
Cutlass317: Wow, lotsa reviews! Thanks!!!  
  
Neptune Butterfly: 'It'? What exactly did you mean by 'it'? *lol* And thank you very much!  
  
~  
  
Next time: Um, I dunno... I haven't written it yet. I decided to try to write another 'new' chapter (when I originally began posting this fic, I had already completed the entire thing with the exception of chapter 5 {I think}, this chapter, and the very last chapter) so I should have it done in two weeks (outside guess) or less if I hurry. I have a basic idea on what the new chapter is gonna be about, but I don't want to say just in case I can't write it. 


	16. Picnics, apples, and spiders

Disclaimer: I don't own Trigun, I'm just borrowing it for awhile. Trigun is property of Yasuhiro Nightow, Mad House, Pioneer, and whoever else was smart enough to get a piece of the action. I just know I wasn't. TT  
  
"..." is talking  
  
'...' is thinking   
  
It took longer than I thought it would, but here's the new chapter! And hey, that last chapter was EXACTLY 6400 words. And how I managed that is a mystery to me. :P

[What is this? I can edit to add italics!? Yay! I used italics alot in the previous chapters (before I found out they didn't show up when I uploaded them) to stress certain words and make the chapters look better (get rid of the '...' thought thingys), maybe now I can go back and edit the older chapters to add italics. Woot!]  
  
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A Glimpse of Eden  
  
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Chapter - 15  
  
"Just a little farther, Meryl. And no peeking!" Locke reminded her as he carefully led her by the hand.   
  
Meryl shut her eyes tighter, half wondering what this 'surprise' was about and half hoping she wouldn't trip over anything. She guessed they were in the arboretum, but exactly why still alluded her. During breakfast, Locke had told her that he had a surprise for her and that she had to wait in her room until it was ready. So, despite her questions and protests, she had been forced to stay in her room for the duration of the morning and part of the afternoon, until Locke had come to get her.  
  
"Ok, Meryl. We're here." Locke said cheerfully. "You can open your eyes now."  
  
She did, although a bit hesitantly. She blinked, studying the scene before her. They were in the arboretum alright, but what was this? "What is...?"  
  
"It's a picnic!" he informed her with his usual exuberance.  
  
"I can see that." she said with a touch of amusement. "Did you have a hand in this?" she asked Knives, who was in his usual stance by the tree.  
  
"It was the boy's idea." he answered, sounding bored with the whole idea.  
  
"Come on, Meryl! Sit down!" the boy invited, he himself plunking down on the blanket and then having to quickly reach out to steady a glass he'd disturbed.  
  
"Careful, Locke." she murmured automatically, before stepping into the blanket and settling down, tucking her legs underneath her.  
  
"Knives!" the boy called out, patting a space on the blanket near him.   
  
With an annoyed grunt, the older Plant came over and gracefully seated himself 'indian-style' in the designated spot, somehow managing to maintain his superior air despite the fact that he was sitting on a pink and red striped blanket. Locke shot him a quick grin before turning anxious eyes to Meryl. "Does it look okay?"  
  
"It certainly looks impressive." she smiled, and a pleased look passed over the boy's face. "Did you do all this by yourself?"  
  
"Yeah! Well... it was my idea, but Knives helped alot." the boy amended. "He made the food." Locke leaned forward, his voice lowered to a loud whisper. "Did you know Knives could cook?"  
  
She played along, her eyes wide with shock. "He can?"  
  
"Don't act so surprised." he mumbled, appearing irritated by their teasing. "I can do alot of things."  
  
"I'm sure you can." she soothed, giving him a smile. "But I don't think making sandwiches is really considered 'cooking'."  
  
"I could have made something else," Knives replied, with a slight smile of his own, "but the boy insisted on sandwiches."  
  
"Because that's what people eat at picnics! Sandwiches!" he said brightly, before getting a puzzled look on his face. "At least, that's what all the books say."  
  
"Quite right!" Meryl said with a firm nod. "People at picnics have sandwiches and... and what are we drinking?"  
  
"Iced tea." Knives answered. "According to Locke, it should be lemonade, but we didn't have any."  
  
Locked nodded. "We had to improvise." he stated, slowly drawing out the last word with apparent relish. He had picked up that word from Knives earlier in the morning and, like he did with most of the new words and phrases he heard, took great joy in repeating it.  
  
"That's alright. I prefer iced tea anyway." she smiled, and then reached for a sandwich. "Salmon?" she murmured blankly when she'd unwrapped it.  
  
"Locke said he likes them." Knives said distastefully, wrinkling his nose slightly.  
  
She smiled and offered the sandwich to the boy, who took it eagerly. "I suppose he does." She picked up another sandwich, ham and cheese, and offered it to Knives who shook his head. "You like ham and cheese." she insisted, and held it out to him again.  
  
He hesitated briefly, and then took it. "Thank you."  
  
She blinked, surprised. "You're welcome." She smiled at him, then moved to wipe Locke's face with a napkin. "Honesty, Locke." she affectionately scolded, "Can't you eat something without ending up wearing it?"  
  
The rest of the lunch was spent in relaxed conversation, with Meryl and Locke doing the majority of the talking although Knives would occassionally add a comment ot two. They talked about how pretty the trees in the arboretum were now that they were in bloom and what Meryl would cook for dinner, she even told a couple of stories about her travels with Vash that made even Knives laugh. Of course, how could anybody _not_ laugh at Meryl's 'Vash's head in dufflebag' story?  
  
Locke fell back onto the blanket, trying to control his giggles. Knives shook his head in amusement, biting the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing again. "My brother actually did that?" he asked, and when Meryl sat back down on the blanket with a nod and a grin, he let out another short laugh before shaking his head in disappointment. "My brother is truly an idiot."  
  
Meryl laughed. "I told him not to do it, but he just _had_ to go digging through his bag for that donut." She leaned back on her hands and stretched her legs in front of her, crossing them at the ankles. "It took Milly and I almost fifteen minutes to pull him free. And that was only because that broomhead refused to release his grip on that stupid donut!"  
  
Knives sighed. "He always did have an affinity for those things."  
  
"Why is that?" she asked, absently smoothing the wrinkles from her skirt, "I mean, donuts are good and all, but he gets almost obsessed over them."  
  
Knives shrugged, then turned his eyes to study Locke. "Sugar."   
  
"Sugar?" she repeated, following his gaze to Locke, who was reaching for his glass of iced tea.  
  
Knives nodded, then stretched out on his side, propping his head on his hand and yawning slightly. "He likes the sugar. So does Locke, or hadn't you noticed?"  
  
Her brow knitted in thought, contemplating his words. "Does that have anything to do with..." she paused briefly before continuing, "well, you all being... Plants?"  
  
He nodded again, part of him wondering why he was sharing all this with her. "Eating excess amounts of sugar does for Plants the exact same thing it does for humans, it gives them extra energy. If a Plant uses more energy than they normally do, then eating something with alot of sugar helps them to replace it. Of course," he added, "you'd have to eat _alot_ of sugar in order to make a major impact, but then," he smiled, "you've seen my brother eat."  
  
Meryl frowned, her worried gaze resting on Locke. "Is it... harmful? I mean, all that sugar. Can it get addictive?"  
  
He shook his head. "Don't worry. It's no more addictive to Plants than it is to humans." he said, and saw her visibly relax. He hadn't meant to worry her.  
  
"So is that why Vash eats all those donuts? For the energy?"  
  
He carelessly fingered a napkin before giving a half-hearted shrug. "No. He eats all those donuts because he likes them and he's a glutton." he said, an undertone of fondness in his voice removing the sting from his words.  
  
"You could have said that when I first asked instead of getting all long-winded and scientific about it." she griped, crossing her arms over her chest and throwing him an annoyed look.   
  
"Force of habit." he smiled.  
  
"And how about you?" she then asked, the annoyed look disappearing, and when he raised an eyebrow in question, she added, "Do you like donuts, too?"  
  
"Of course." he murmured. Who didn't like donuts?  
  
"But I've never seen you eat them."  
  
"Too much sugar isn't exactly healthy for you." he replied, rolling onto his back and staring up into the trees. All this talk was making him sleepy. "I try to limit my intake of sweets. You know what they say, 'too much of a good thing'." he mumbled, closing his eyes.  
  
Meryl waited to see if he would continue, and when he didn't, she sighed and turned her attention from him to the sandwich wrappings, gathering them into a neat pile for easier clean up. Locke helped her, his eyes straying occassionally to the blossoming trees in the distance.  
  
"I think that's all of them." Meryl muttered, twisting around to check for any more wrappings.  
  
"Hey!" Locke spoke up, a smile lighting his face. "Let's go for a walk!"  
  
"A walk?" she repeated, sounding uncertain. "What for?"  
  
"To see the flowers." he replied, "And then we can pick apples." He turned to Meryl, his eyes hopeful. "Maybe you can make an apple pie for desert tonight."  
  
"Locke..." she chided, but couldn't keep from smiling. "Must you always think of your stomach?"  
  
"Not always..." he grinned, "but I didn't get desert for two weeks! I have to make up for it."  
  
She laughed. Sometimes she didn't know who he reminded her more of; Vash, with his unlimited energy and passion for life; or Knives, with his calm reserve and unending hunger for knowledge. "Okay, Locke." she agreed, raising to her feet and brushing off her skirt, "Let's go take a walk."  
  
He bounded to his feet, rushing to stand over Knives. "Come on, Knives! We're going for a walk!"  
  
Knives opened one blue eye to frown up at the boy. "So go take one. I'll wait here until you get back."  
  
"No," Locke moaned, grabbing the older Plant's hand and trying to pull him up, "You have to come, too!"  
  
"But I don't want to." he grumbled sourly, rising to his feet. "I've seen the flowers before."  
  
"So you'll just have to see them again." the boy countered with another smile, and moved to catch up with Meryl, who had already started off in the direction of the apple trees. He took her hand, and when Knives caught up with them a moment later, he reached for his hand as well.  
  
They strolled leisurely through the arboretum, taking their time to enjoy the scenery, and only stopping whenever Knives wanted to tell Locke about a specific plant. And in great detail, much to Meryl's dismay, as she was forced to listen to them discuss and compare different species of plant life more than once.  
  
Finally, after about half-an-hour, Locke dropped their hands and rushed forward with a shout. "There they are!"  
  
An amused smile lit Meryl's face, and then faded as her eyes widened in astonishment as she viewed apple trees in full bloom for the first time. "Oh... my." she gasped, coming to a stop in the middle of the circle of apple trees and trying to absorb it all at once. "It's so... beautiful." she breathed, a soft smile lifting her features. "I've never seen anything like it."  
  
"You must have seen pictures before." Knives said, looking amused by her reaction.  
  
"Yes... but pictures can't compare with this!" she insisted, turning in a slow circle to admire her surroundings.  
  
He smiled, then let his gaze travel over the blossoming trees around them. "No, I guess they can't." he agreed.  
  
"Come on!" Locke called, running over to take Meryl's hand and pull her toward a tree, an apple already clutched in his other hand. "I need help!"  
  
"Alright, Locke." she said when they'd arrived under the tree and he'd released her hand. "How are we going to do this?"  
  
Locke tilted his head to one side, giving her question proper thought. He and Meryl were too small to reach the apples on the branches, and since the apples on the ground didn't look nearly as good, it stood to reason that if they wanted only the very best apples then Knives' help would be key. "Me and Knives will pick the apples, and you'll hold them." he finally decided.  
  
"But why do I have to hold them?" she asked with a smile, amused by his commanding tone. "Can't I just pile them on the ground?"  
  
He looked horrified. "They'd get dirty!" he informed her, sounding aghast by the suggestion.  
  
She laughed. This was coming from the boy who, at two months, had tried to eat a fern; and at five months, had dropped a cookie on the ground and then proceeded to pick it up and shove it in his mouth anyway. "Okay, Locke. We'll do it your way."  
  
He grinned, then went to stand in front of Knives. "Pick me up." he requested politely, raising his arms toward Knives, who then bent to lift the boy.  
  
Locke chewed his bottom lip, studying the apples hanging above him. He half-reached for one, only to pull his hand back and turn his head to examine another apple more closely.   
  
Meryl smiled and clicked her tongue, "Such a little perfectionist." she teased, then had to dive forward to catch an apple the boy tossed to her.  
  
"I just want the best ones." he replied simply, reaching for another apple and snapping it from the branch. "There's nothing wrong with that, is there?"  
  
She took it from his hand, then turned her eyes toward the branches to scan the apples. "They all look the same to me, Locke."  
  
He shook his head. "This one," he pointed to one apple on a branch, "has a soft spot. And this one," he pointed to another, "has a discolored area. That means they won't taste right."  
  
"Oh..." she murmured, as Knives chuckled at the blank look on her face.  
  
"Is that enough?" Locke asked after he'd placed a few more apples in Meryl's arms.  
  
"More than enough." she assured him, trying to hold onto all the apples and then casting a glare at the one that managed to slip free of her grasp and roll away from her.  
  
Knives started to lower Locke back to the ground. "Wait, wait!" he cried, reaching up towards the branches again, "Lift me back up!" The older Plant complied, and the boy broke off a small clump of the flowers. "For you, Meryl." he smiled, holding it out to her.  
  
"Thank you, Locke." she smiled back, then bit her lip when another apple almost fell from her arms. "But, um... my hands are kinda full right now."  
  
"No problem." he said cheerfully, and Knives grunted and tightened his hold when the boy leaned forward and placed the flowers in her hair. "There you go." he grinned at her. "Pretty." She blushed lightly at the unexpected compliment, and Locke gave her another huge grin before taking an apple from her and biting down into it. He then slid down out of Knives' grip to the ground and wandered off toward a flowering bush, his attention drawn by the heart-shaped petals.  
  
"That boy..." she mumbled, shaking her head, "is going to be trouble when he gets older."  
  
"At least he has good taste." Knives said, coming forward and lightly touching one of the flowers in her hair. Her blush deepened, surprised by the apparent compliment, and before she could think of anything to say, he added. "The flowers do look rather pretty."  
  
She reached out and took a swing at his teasing grin but missed, as he had expected the move and deftly avoided it. Her sudden movement caused another two apples to fall, but Knives caught them both before they hit the ground. "Temper, temper..." he scolded with a smile.  
  
She stuck her tongue out at him, not caring how immature it looked. "You're just jealous because you didn't get any flowers." she retorted playfully.  
  
He snorted. "Yeah, that's it." he remarked sarcastically, placing the apples back in her arms. "I'm jealous."  
  
"Well, at least you're man enough to admit it." she laughed, then glanced over at Locke who was busy staring up into a tree's branches. "What's got his attention now?"  
  
"Let's go see, shall we?" he said, starting towards the boy. He was curious to know what held the boy's interest so intently.  
  
Meryl hurried after him. "If you were any kind of a gentleman you'd help me with these." she grumbled, shifting her load of apples. He took one. "Oh, yeah... that's a BIG help. Thanks alot." she muttered sourly, before she noticed his smile being replaced by a look of seriousness. "What is it?" she asked, following his gaze to Locke.  
  
Knives handed her back the apple without a word, then stepped up beside the boy. "What are you looking at, Locke?" he murmured softly.  
  
"That." he answered, a finger pointing upwards. "A spiderweb. See?"  
  
"Oh, so there is." Meryl smiled, peering up into the branches. "Can you see the spider on it, Locke?"  
  
"Where?" he asked, squinting up at the web in an effort to make out it's lone inhabitant.  
  
"Right there," she answered, trying her best to point out the spider's location with her chin, "In the upper left part of the web."  
  
"I can't see..." Locke murmured, and without a word, Knives bent and picked the boy up, resting him against his hip and curving an arm under him for added support. Locke wrapped one arm around Knives' neck, and in his other hand he held his half-eaten apple. "It looks kinda small." he commented.  
  
"Maybe it doesn't get enough to eat." Meryl suggested, not understanding the sour look her comment received from Knives.  
  
Knives paused, appearing thoughtful. "Locke," he finally asked, his eyes fixed on the spiderweb, "A question for you. If you were to come across a butterfly caught in a spider's web, what would you do? Would you allow the spider to kill the butterfly for food, or would you set the butterfly free and therefore condemn the spider to die of starvation?"  
  
The boy frowned, thinking over the question. Knives waited patiently, determined not to press the boy for an answer or to try to sway his response in any way. He wanted the boy's honest answer and opinion. "I guess..." Locke drawled out slowly, "that I'd try to find a way to save both."  
  
"But that's impossible." Knives argued. "You can't save them both. The spider has to eat the butterfly in order to survive, so if you free the butterfly the spider would die."  
  
"I'm sure there's a way to save both." Locke countered thoughtfully, "You just have to think of one."  
  
"How?" Knives asked tersely, his voice carrying a trace of urgency, "How could you possibly save both?"  
  
Locke smiled and gave a slight shrug. "Teach the spider to eat something other than butterflies." he guessed.  
  
Knives sighed. Perhaps the boy was still too young to understand and debate the issue properly. "That wouldn't work. Spiders won't eat anything else."  
  
"How do you know?" Locke questioned. "Have you ever tried?"  
  
"Of course not. It would be a waste of time and effort. I already know what the outcome would be."  
  
"But you never really know until you try, right?" Meryl commented, causing Knives to glance in her direction. He'd almost forgotten the girl's presence.  
  
"We've gotten off the subject." Knives complained. "The original question wasn't 'how could you save both', it was 'which would you choose to save, the spider or the butterfly'?"  
  
Locke sighed and pulled himself closer into Knives' arms, his head resting on the older Plant's shoulder. It was obvious by the look on his face that he didn't particularly the question that was being asked of him.  
  
After a few minutes of silence, Knives went ahead and spoke. "Come on," he coaxed, "wouldn't you choose to save the butterfly? The spider is harmful and ugly, but the butterfly is innocent and beautiful. The butterfly would be the better choice, don't you think?"  
  
Locke pondered this. "They are kinda ugly looking." he agreed after a moment, studying the spider above them, and causing Knives to smile.  
  
"I don't know." Meryl spoke up. "I suppose if you look only at the surface, then they are very ugly indeed. But they do have their purpose, and you have to admit," she smiled Locke, "they make beautiful webs."  
  
"Yeah... they do." the boy agreed with a smile of his own, looking at the spider and it's web in a new light.  
  
Knives frowned, not liking the way the conversation was headed. "No one," he said to Meryl, "asked for your opinion."  
  
"No one ever does." she sighed regretfully. "And let me tell you, there have been quite a few occasions where if Vash or Milly had only listened to me it would have saved us alot of trouble."  
  
"Oh, really?" he replied absently, already deciding to abandon his discussion with Locke until they could be alone. "Like how?"  
  
"Like when Vash bought you back after your fight," she answered, turning and walking away, "if he had taken my advice then we wouldn't have had so much trouble afterwards."  
  
"And what advice was that?" Knives called after her.   
  
"To turn around and take you right back where he got you."  
  
Knives blinked, staring after the girl in stunned silence. "She's joking." Locke commented after a moment.  
  
"I'm not so sure." he replied wryly, then hurried to catch up with her, swinging the boy to the ground in the process. "Did you really tell my brother to take me back where he'd found me?" he asked intently when he'd caught up with her, his eyes searching her face.  
  
"Yes..." she answered truthfully, then shot him a smile, "but I'm glad he didn't."  
  
He studied her for a moment, a look of confusion passing over his features. "Foolish girl." he finally scoffed. "You make no sense." Then, after a pause, he reached to take the apples from her. "I don't think I'll ever understand you."  
  
She smiled, her eyes softening, and she wrapped an arm around Locke's shoulders when he came near to her. "That's funny." she whispered, quietly enough so that Knives couldn't hear her. "Because I used to think the exact same thing about you."  
  
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End chapter 15  
  
KnivesLady: Oops, sorry. I missed adding you when I updated last time. I'm so glad you like my story!  
  
SanoGirl: lol Thanks, glad you liked that part about the 'no desert'. I know that certainly would ruin my day if I was Locke. lol  
  
Anonymous: Thank you!  
  
Arika: Hmmm, did I miss it somehow? Didn't you update? wants new chapter Thanks for the review! :P  
  
angelarms: Wow, sorry about the long lapse between updates! I tried writing this chapter at work, but I got a chapter for my next fic instead. My muse must have ADD. I didn't have time to proof this chapter (I wanted to get it posted quickly) so I hope my grammer/spelling is still ok!  
  
Akiko: Yes, they are!   
  
Cutlass317: Wow, seems everyone liked the 'dust bunny' ending. Thanks for reviewing!   
  
Anhdunamis: Thank you!  
  
Ana: Thanks, Ana! Sorry to have kept you waiting!   
  
dbzfan82: Glad you like my fic so much! Hope you like this chapter as well.   
  
Tangled puppet: Thanks for the huge compliment!  
  
geishablade: Oops, I hope I didn't make Knives too nice. Well, I suppose that just because he's 'somewhat' nice to Meryl doesn't mean he would be nice to other humans. Meryl is different.   
  
White Ninja Spy: Thanks! I love K/M stories, Knives and Meryl compliment each other very well, but I love V/M fics, too. They're so CUTE together!  
  
Next time: Could it be... the end!? (Can't say anymore then that, sorry.)


	17. And so it ends?

Disclaimer: I don't own Trigun, I'm just borrowing it for awhile. Trigun is property of Yasuhiro Nightow, Mad House, Pioneer, and whoever else was smart enough to get a piece of the action. I just know I wasn't. TT  
  
"..." is talking  
  
'...' is thinking   
  
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A Glimpse of Eden  
  
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Chapter - 16  
  
With a slight groan, Meryl stumbled toward the oak tree and practically collapsed on the grass underneath it, exhausted from playing kickball with Locke all afternoon. Waving him off and begging for a break when he started to complain, she gently massaged her aching leg muscles with the knowledge that she'd be sore in the morning. He gave her another disappointed frown, then turned and ran back to play with the ball by himself.  
  
She sighed, wishing that Knives had bought the boy back a less _active_ present from town. But Knives had said that it would be good exercise for the boy and it would help improve his reflexes and she guessed he was right. Besides, Locke looked so happy chasing after the ball and it was a good way for him to work off some of his excess energy from being cooped up indoors all the time. She frowned, the thought bothering her. She'd have to remember to talk to Knives about that. When he was in a good enough mood, that is.  
  
The door opened and Knives entered, his eyes focused on Locke as he made his way over to where she sat. After a brief nod in response to the boy's greeting, Knives joined Meryl under the tree, sitting down next to her on the grass and watching as Locke tried, unsucessfully, to bounce the ball on his knee.  
  
They sat there together, both silent, and Meryl was amazed at how relaxed and comfortable they had become with each other. The fact that Knives was sitting here beside her as opposed to leaning against the tree was evidence of that. As an experiment, Meryl shifted her position slightly, allowing her leg to 'accidently' brush against his, and was pleased by the lack of reaction it got. He didn't even glance in her direction or acknowledge the touch at all. Had she done something like that in the first month she had been there, Knives would have surely reacted, probably with violence. Even as little as a month ago, Knives would have probably tensed, pulled away, or made some rude remark about her species. The amount of change in him was incredible.  
  
She glanced sideways in his direction, noticing that he appeared to be relaxed and thoughtful. Maybe now would be a good time as any to suggest he allow Locke outside more often, perhaps even take a trip with the boy once she left. She cleared her throat and Knives turned his attention to her, his blue eyes cautious. "Yes?"  
  
She smiled to try to put him at ease. The expression on his face reminded her of his brother when he was expecting one of her bruise-inducing 'lectures'. "I just want to thank you again for bringing Locke back a present. He's been playing with it all afternoon."  
  
He shrugged, but she caught the pleased gleam in his eyes. "It was nothing."  
  
"It was very thoughtful of you," she praised, and noticed him struggling to keep a smile from his face. She took a breath, hoping that his apparent good mood would last through what she was about to discuss with him. "Knives? Can I talk to you about something?"  
  
"About what?" The cautious look was back in place.  
  
"I want to talk about... what you're going to do once I leave," she replied, watching his face carefully for any reaction to the mention of her leaving, "Because I was thinking, if you don't have anything planned yet, maybe..." she trailed off, growing uneasy with the look he was giving her.  
  
"Maybe what?" he asked, somewhat gruffly.  
  
She took a deep breath. It was now or never. "Maybe it would be a good idea for you to take Locke traveling for awhile." At his dubious look she hurried on. "It would be good for him to get out and see new things, meet new peo--" she cut herself off, remembering exactly who she was talking to. _Way to go, Meryl. You've probably just ruined any chance you might have had to convince him. _  
  
He frowned, but he appeared to actually be considering her words. Another testiment to how much he had changed. "I don't have the time," he finally answered.  
  
"All you have is time," she said irritably.  
  
"What was that?" he asked, his tone was light but his eyes held a warning.  
  
Still, she plowed on regardless. "I said, that all you have is time," she repeated. When his eyes narrowed, she sighed and continued, more gently than before. "Knives, you've lived for more than a century. Can you honestly say that you don't have the time to take a few months off to spend some time with Locke? He needs to see the world, Knives. He needs..." she struggled briefly for want of a word, "He needs to experience... life," she finally finished. "You can't keep him locked away in a cage forever, Knives," she added, her eyes soft, and she gently laid her hand on his forearm, "He'll suffocate if you do."  
  
He seemed affected by her words, if not just her touch, and his eyes searched hers intently. Finally, he pulled away from her touch and nodded slightly. "I'll think about it."  
  
She smiled and lightly brushed her shoulder against his. "That's all I ask."  
  
Meryl turned her attention back to Locke, the smile slowly fading from her face. She'd miss him, she really would. But she missed her friends, too. She hadn't seen Milly in almost a year, and she ached to see Vash again. It was so all unfair. Why couldn't she be with all of them? Why did she have to choose between them? She'd even miss Knives she suddenly realized, and her heart tensed with the knowledge that when she left she would probably never see him again.  
  
Knives glanced down at Meryl, the sadness and doubt she was feeling almost impossible for him to ignore. She hugged herself, her eyes misting with unshed tears as she watched the boy at play, and Knives knew that when the time came, it would be the most difficult thing in the world for the girl to leave Locke. He knew she would be hurt, and for some odd reason, that made him hurt, too.  
  
Taking a breath, he made a decision that would affect them both forever. "How would you like to go and visit my brother and your friend today?"  
  
She turned back to him, seeming confused by his words. "How would I like...?" she repeated uncertainly, before understanding lit her eyes and her jaw dropped in shock. "You're serious!?"  
  
He nodded, trying to appear nonchalant. "Of course. I tried to have my revolver's sight adjusted in Garrison, but the man there was incompetitant, so I thought I'd try the gunsmith in Spring, and since Vash and that girl live there..." he trailed off and he shrugged. "I just thought you might like to visit with them while I'm getting my gun taken care of."  
  
Her face blossomed into a delighted smile and for a moment Knives was afraid she was going to hug him, so he continued on, almost rambling in his nervousness. "We wouldn't be able to stay for that long, mind you. Less than an hour, maybe even only twenty minutes, but I just thought--"  
  
The rest of his sentence was cut off when Meryl stood and surprised him by grabbing his hand and pulling him to his feet. Interlocking her arm with his, she began dragging him toward the door. "Locke!" she called back over her shoulder, "Come on, we're going to town."  
  
"We have to leave right now?" Knives asked, trying, unsuccessfully, to pull his arm free from her grasp.  
  
"Yes!" she tightened her grip on his arm and quickened her step, "Before you have a chance to change your mind!"

-----------------------------

Knives slammed the car door, a little harder than necessary, but Meryl didn't pay any attention. He had been melancholy and pretty much silent for the entire trip and she got the feeling that he was bothered by something, but she knew better than to ask what.  
  
She hopped out of the car, closing the door more quietly than Knives had, and eagerly scanned the town. It hadn't changed much in the ten months she'd been away and was slightly comforted by that fact. Maybe she could pick up exactly where she had left off when the time came to return. She glanced down the street and her heart beat quickened. Just a few blocks away was her home. Just a few blocks away was Vash.  
  
"Com'on, Locke," she smiled and held out her hand to the boy, "Let's go."  
  
Knives laid a restraining hand on the boy's shoulder. "The boy will stay with me." At her confused look, he continued. "I told you we won't be long. Go and visit your friends and come back in twen- no, thirty minutes. And don't be late. I don't want to stay in this town any longer than necessary."  
  
She smiled, and after giving them a small wave, she turned and hurried off in the direction of her home as fast as she could. She only had thirty minutes and she didn't want to waste a moment of it.  
  
The two watched her until she rounded a corned and disappeared from sight. Locke glanced up at Knives, somewhat disappointed. "Why couldn't we go with her? I wanted to see Vash again."  
  
Knives sighed, his face softening when he looked down at the boy. "Locke," he murmured, his voice sounding a little sad, "We're going to have to have a talk."

--------------------------------

Meryl stood outside the place she had called home for over two years, listening to the murmured voices coming from within. Fighting the urge to burst in the house and scare the hell out of them, she decided to open the door quietly and surprise them instead. Her hand trembled slightly as she grasped the door knob, then after a deep, steadying breath, she turned the knob and quietly stepped inside the small residence.  
  
Her eyes watered at the sight of them and she had to press her hand over her mouth to keep from saying their names. Milly was by the sink, washing a pot and chatting to Vash about anything and everything, just like she always did. Vash was seated at the table, a cup of coffee in front of him as he absently listened to Milly's ramble. Neither of them had heard her entrance, and for a few moments she stood there and studied them, trying to memorize each and every detail.  
  
Milly must have finally sensed her presence, for she suddenly turned around and glanced toward the doorway where Meryl stood. Her light blue eyes widened and she cut off her sentence, her mouth hanging open in shock. After a moment, her eyes teared up and she whisped a broken, "Meryl...?"  
  
Vash lifted his head from his drink and followed Milly's gaze to Meryl, his eyes also widening in shock at the sight of the dark-haired girl silhouetted in the open doorway. "M-Meryl?"  
  
She smiled and nodded, and a split-second later she was wrapped in a tight hug by Milly. "Oh, Meryl!" she cried, her grip tightening around the smaller woman, "I've missed you so much!"  
  
"Not... not so tight, Milly," she managed to gasp out and was relieved when the taller woman lessened her hold.  
  
"Meryl, is everything alright?" Vash asked, his voice sounding worried, "Did something happen? Did Knives--"  
  
"Everything's okay, Vash. I'm just here for a visit. I've still got two months left before I'm back permanately," she explained, trying to ease Vash's fears. He probably thought Knives had thrown her out or something.  
  
He visibly relaxed and came over to where the two women were hugging, his eyes focusing on Meryl. A split second later, his face broadened into a huge grin and he threw his arms around both of them, squeezing them tightly and enthusiastically. "Oh! I'm so happy!" he blubbered, happy tears streaming down his cheeks.  
  
"Can't... can't breathe," Meryl squeeked out, blushing furiously.  
  
Vash and Milly released their grip on her and Meryl took a few deep breaths to try and regain her composure. With a bright smile, Milly grabbed her hand and lead her over to the table, gently pushing her into a seat and then began preparing her a cup of coffee.   
  
"Er... Milly, that's alright. I'm not very--"  
  
"Here you go, Meryl." Milly interupted, placing the cup of coffee on the table in front of her. "Nice and hot, just the way you like it."  
  
"Um... thanks, Milly." she replied, staring down at the drink. She wasn't very thirsty, but if it would make Milly happy she would drink it.   
  
"So..." Vash began, settling back down in his chair, "Knives really bought you out here for a visit? Where is he?" he asked, his eyes darting toward the still open doorway as if waiting for his brother to suddenly appear.   
  
"I guess he's getting his errand taken care of," she shrugged, and then took a small sip of coffee, "He just told me to be ready to leave in half-an-hour." At Vash's worried look, she smiled and added. "Don't worry, Vash. Locke's with him and I don't think Knives would try anything with him around." Her face softened slightly and her voice became more gentle. "You were right, Vash. He has changed. I can see that now."  
  
Vash smiled, and placed his hand over hers. "Meryl..."  
  
She blushed and pulled away, embarassed by the way Milly was grinning at the two of them. "Er... so anyway. How have things been around here? Did I miss anything?"  
  
Milly tapped a finger against her chin, deep in thought. "Well..." her face brightened and she giggled. "Mr. Vash got a job!"  
  
Meryl's jaw dropped and she turned an unbelieving stare upon Vash, who was rubbing the back of his head and looking embarassed. "_You_ got a job!?" she asked, incredulous.  
  
"Well... yeah, I kinda had to. With you gone we couldn't afford the rent and grocery bills so..." he sighed, and looked disappointed in himself. "So I got a job."  
  
She began to laugh, the thought of Vash having a steady job was hilarious. "Who in their right mind would ever have hired you!?" she giggled, trying to hold back the laughter, but failing miserably.  
  
Vash frowned, pretending to be insulted. "And just what is that supposed to mean? You know, before you girls came along I supported myself just fine."  
  
"Okay, okay." she giggled, shaking her head slightly. "Seriously, what kind of job is it?"   
  
"The bank's security guard." he grinned, pleased with himself.  
  
"You're a security guard?" she blinked in surprise, then realized it made sense. Who in their right mind who ever try to rob a bank that had Vash the Stampede as it's guard? "Well..." she muttered, "it's about time you got off your lazy butt and started helping out around here. You know, Vash--"  
  
"Meryl?" he interupted with a sigh. "Just for little while, can you at least _pretend_ you're glad to see me?"  
  
Her face fell and she ducked her head. "I'm sorry, Vash." she said softly, then bought her head up to look him in the eyes. "I don't have to pretend, Vash. I am glad to see you."  
  
He smiled at her, his eyes softening, and she shyly glanced back down at her cup. After a moment, she glanced back up at him, but that look was gone and his goofy grin was back in it's place. She sighed, and then asked another question. "Anything else happen that I should know about?"  
  
Milly's face scrunched back up in thought and she bit at her lip. Vash leaned over and winked at Meryl before innocently adding, "Oh, yeah. That Andrew guy has been hanging around an awful lot lately."  
  
Milly blushed and looked away and Meryl raised a curious eyebrow at Vash. "Andrew?"  
  
Vash nodded and then shook his head. "Can't seem to get rid of that guy. He's always hanging around, staying for dinner... I wonder wha--"  
  
"Mr. Andrew has been coming over almost everyday since you disappeared, Meryl." Milly interupted. "He's been so worried about you that he comes to hear if there's any news about you."  
  
Vash snorted. "Yeah, and he sticks around eating our food and sitting at our table. Such a pest!" He nudged Meryl with his elbow and she had to stiffle a grin.  
  
"Mr. Andrew helps alot around the house." Milly added, sounding slightly defensive. "He helps me fold the laundry and cook the meals." She blushed and sat down at the table. "He's been really worried about you, Meryl." she repeated.  
  
"It sure sounds like it," she replied wryly. If what Vash was hinting at was true, Andrew had been spending alot of time around the house, and not for the reasons Milly was giving.  
  
Vash chuckled at Milly's embarassment over the teasing before his face turned serious. "Meryl, I'm curious. You said that Knives had something to do in town. Might I ask what it was?"  
  
"Oh, he said he had to get his revolver fixed. He said the gunsmith in Garrison was 'incompetant'," she shrugged, not wanting to think about Knives right now. She would have to deal with him again soon enough.  
  
He frowned, confusion on his features. "His gun fixed? But... Spring dosen't have a gunsmith."  
  
Her mouth opened, then closed, then opened again before any words came out. "But... that's what he said he was here for," she blinked, confused. Now that she thought about it, Spring didn't have a gunsmith shop. But then what...?  
  
"He... he wouldn't..." she whispered. Suddenly, it all made sense. Knives' sudden trip to Spring, his silence during the trip, his refusal to allow Locke to accompany her, it all lead to just one conclusion. "No!" she shouted and jumped up from from her chair, knocking it over. Without another word, she turned and ran from the house, hurrying as fast as she could back to the car. Tears clouded her vision and she wiped them away. _He couldn't... he wouldn't!_  
  
A broken sob tore from her throat when she reached her destination. The car was gone, Locke was gone, Knives was gone. He had left her behind.  
  
Vash caught up with her a moment later. "Meryl..." he whispered, his heart breaking at the sight of her grief.  
  
She turned toward him, her face wet with tears. "Why, Vash? Why did he leave?"   
  
He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, not knowing what to say.  
  
"Hey! Is your name Meryl?" A man's voice called out. Blinking back tears, she nodded, uncertain as to how the man knew her name. The man held out a neatly wrapped package to her and after she hesitantly took it, he continued. "This guy paid me and told me to give this to you. He said you would know why."  
  
With his message delivered, the man walked away, leaving behind the confused couple. Opening it slowly, Meryl gasped as the wrapping fell away and revealed the book she had once borrowed from Knives.   
  
She clutched the book to her chest and she looked brokenly up at Vash. "Why...?"  
  
Vash opened his arms and Meryl went to him, burying her face in his shirt. Milly approached them, a little breathless from her run, but Vash was busy comforting Meryl and barely noticed her arrival. He held her closer and glanced off toward the distance, a gentle smile touching his lips. "I never thought I'd live to see it," he quietly whispered to himself, "For the first time in his life, Knives actually put someone else's feelings above his own."  
  
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End chapter 16

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Cutlass317: Thank you, thank you, and thank you!  
  
Arika: I guess every story has to end sometime, but that only means I'll be starting work on a new one.   
  
angelarms: Tada! Here your Vashu! I told you he'd be back! :)  
  
White Ninja Spy: Yeah, I have habit of building up the chapter slowly, then as soon as I reach the high point, I end the chapter. Gah, I hope it's not too strenuous for you.   
  
Suki: Thank you!   
  
Ana: lol Thanks!!!  
  
dbzfan82: Heh, thanks alot!  
  
Anichan: lol My OC's most powerful defense... cuteness. Heh, Excel Saga references rock. Thanks for reviewing!  
  
Suzuki Rei: Thank you, and I hope you liked this update!  
  
SanoGirl: Thanks! (Geez, I'm saying that alot today. lol) [is too tired from work to think of anything else to say.]  
  
vashluver1: Actually, this is a Knives/Meryl/Vash triangle fic, not just a K/M one. But then, Vash hasn't been around much so... I guess you're right. lol  
  
geishablade: Thanks for the encouragement!   
  
Yma: Thank you. I'm glad I pulled off a believable Knives. I'm working on a new fic now, and I think I'll try doing Knives in a slightly different way. I hope you'll stick around and read it when it's done. I have high hopes for my second fic. It's plot twisty.   
  
Neptune Butterfly: Fooled ya! Vash didn't go back for Meryl, Knives bought her to him! How sweet... but poor Locke. He didn't even get to say goodbye...

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Next time: ...

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	18. A new beginning

Disclaimer: I don't own Trigun, I'm just borrowing it for awhile. Trigun is property of Yasuhiro Nightow, Mad House, Pioneer, and whoever else was smart enough to get a piece of the action. I just know I wasn't.

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Hey, something different this time; I'm putting the reader review responses up top. Don't ask me why... perhaps because since this is the last chapter, I didn't want something coming immediately after the ending. Yeah, I'm weird like that.   
  
You know, the thing that surprised me the most was how many reviewers thought the last chapter was the end of the fic. If that were the case, I'd have made the ending much more 'final' and more conclusive. I'd never leave my reader's hanging like that. I can see how alot of you guys thought that was the end, but even if I had ended it there, I wouldn't have had the 'next time' thing written down. I just couldn't give a 'next time' blurb because it might have spoiled the ending. IMO.  
  
I recommend everyone go and check out my profile. It's been updated to include a (kinda crappy, imo) description of my next fic. Plus, if you click on my favorite stories thingy, you'll find a collection of what I consider to be the best Trigun fanfics availible on this site, and definite must-reads. Check it out after you read this chapter, and please be sure to leave me one last feedback!!!  
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Sunsilver: Thank you. Though I must say, while I was reading your review I was bouncing in my seat yelling at the monitor: "But it hasn't ended yet!!" Gah, I need to be more careful with my cliffhangers. lol. And I was/am in no way bored with this story. I loved writing it and have been planning a sequel to this story for two months now. It won't be ready immediately, because I have another fic lined up already to begin work on, but there is a sequel planned. But, I think everyone will be able to tell that from the ending of A Glimpse of Eden. There are just too many potential story ideas to ignore. And Locke grew on me, I can't just toss him to the side. He needs more development. He still needs to decide where he stands on the human/Plant spider/butterfly issue. He needs... to go to Disneyland!!! ... Okay, maybe not that. But he needs something. :)  
  
SanoGirl: Thanks. I kinda liked that last line myself. But ugh, the revisions I went though to find the best way to get that line across! Thank you for reviewing my fic. I appreciated all of your kind words.  
  
Anichan: Hmmm, well... after this chapter it's over, so I hope you'll like the ending. I'm so stressed... I hope it doesn't disappoint anyone. Excellent idea you had, and I almost thought about scraping this last chapter and going with it, but I already have a basic outline written for a sequel, and the way the fic ends ties into it. Good idea, though. ::steals::  
  
Beckira: Ouch! Okay, lemme try to answer your questions... not very well, I guess pretty bad, maybe, don't worry he'll be fine, I don't know, possibly but not now, I think he cares ALOT for Meryl which is why he took her back to Vash, and YOU GOT IT!!! Thanks for all the reviews, and let me know how you liked this last chapter!   
  
Pyrotess: Thank you, thank you, thank you!  
  
mamama: All good things must come to an end... ::sniff:: Thanks for the review.  
  
Tsunaharu-Haru: I've been thinking of doing a V/M fic, but my next fic on the horizon is an action/adventure drama thing that I can't really go into detail about yet. Maybe I can write a quick V/M one-shot sometime. I know I do Vash well... and it scares me. lol. And no worries! I don't do Yaoi. Not that I have anything against it, but I really don't see any yaoi pairings in Trigun. Vash and Wolfwood are just really close friends (reminds me of a saying, "There are no best friends in anime, only potential yaoi pairings", and it's true. It seems anime characters just can't be friends without someone reading something 'into' it.), Knives/Vash is just sick and I would suggest seeking professional help (kidding!), Knives/Legato... I can kinda see that (but only one-sided from Legato), and Meryl/Milly who, again, are only close friends. So that's why I will never write yaoi, I just don't see any logical pairings. (No offense to any yaoi writers!) Thanks for reviewing and I hope the 'real' ending is better than the last chapter's.  
  
Tangled puppet: Wow, did I really make you cry? ::blinks:: Damn, I'm better than I thought. Thanks for reviewing, and for having me in your favorites! It makes my day to see that.   
  
Anonymous: Ah man, another one crying! ::sniff:: Okay, if ya'll don't stop I'm gonna start crying... ::tears up:: Thanks for reviewing. ;)  
  
White Ninja Spy: Thank you very much! And if you do ever find a way into Trigun land, TAKE ME WITH YOU!!!  
  
smilesmega: Nope, that wasn't the end, but this chapter is! I hope you'll enjoy the ending! ::crosses fingers::  
  
ChibiSakuraAvalon: Thank you!!! And my cliffhanger asked that you not glomp it so tightly, it needs to breathe. :) Glad you liked it so much!!!  
  
Yma: See, now... I didn't know whether or not to just end the fic with the last chapter and let the reviewers come for my head, or post this last chapter. Well, if you don't like it, just pretend I never updated. ;) My next fic is in the late developement stages (ie: almost all the chapter outlines are done) and YES! There WILL be a sequel to A Glimpse of Eden. I got rather attached to Locke, myself. And congrats on finishing your fic! It was excellent and I can't wait to read more Trigun stories from you!  
  
KeNsHiNs GuRL: My first death threat! ::sniff:: Today, I am TRULY a fanfic author! ::tears up again:: Thank you. And hey, I see by your profile that we both live in Houston. I.. uh-oh, that death threat thing... o.O Good thing I updated. :P  
  
Neptune Butterfly: lol. I think I just might miss reading your reviews the most. Too funny! More people crying! ::passes out klendex:: I really need to be more careful with those cliffhangers... Thank you SO much for all the reviews!!!  
  
Arika: Thanks tons for all the reviews you've given me. I think you've reviewed them all! Anyway, thank again and lots of luck with your fic!  
  
Ana: I'm glad you liked it! And thanks for reviewing my entire fic. You've been with me from the begining, and now... :tears up:: we're at the end! ::crying:: I hope you'll like the ending.   
  
Cutlass317: Okay, I did not stop it there. lol. No, I wouldn't leave you hanging like that, here's the real last chapter. Yeah, I figured that, logically, Andrew would've been hanging around asking about Meryl and that he and Milly would kinda get drawn together. No magically disappearing OCs from me! And I hope you'll read my next fic, or at least keep an eye out for the sequel to A Glimpse of Eden. (Geez, I guess now I'll HAVE to do a sequel, won't I?) Thanks for all the reviews!!!  
  
Suki: 'The inhumanity'? lol. Too cute. Thanks for the review and I hope you'll like the ending!!!

And special thanks to everyone who reviewed 'A Glimpse of Eden'. I had fun writing it and it's incredible to know that so many people enjoyed reading it. I am truly amazed and humbled by the response that my first Trigun fic has received, and I hope that my next effort won't disappoint. Thank you.

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Oh, before I forget, does anyone know of any trigun sites that have a list of all the towns and cities named in Trigun (and possibly even with event descriptions)? I need it for my next fic. I had found a great one once, but I lost the link and I can't find it again. I think it was a MSN community site... Any help would be appreciated!   
  
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A Glimpse of Eden  
  
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Chapter - 17  
  
Knives picked up a bag and carefully packed it in the trunk of the car along with the other supplies. Resting his hands at the top of the raised trunk, he glanced down at the small boy beside him. "Are you sure you packed everything you need? Because we won't be coming back for awhile."  
  
The boy nodded, so Knives slammed the trunk shut, the resounding noise echoing out across the desert. Biting his lip, a habit he recently seemed to have aquired from someone, he glanced down at the car, studying his reflection in the trunk's shiny surface. It had been five days since he had taken Meryl back to Spring, back to Vash, and already her absence was affecting him. He couldn't even go into the arboretum anymore because of all the memories it held. That was one of the reasons he was taking this trip with Locke, to escape from the memories. Perhaps if he wasn't somewhere that constantly reminded him of Meryl, maybe he could forget her in time and go back to the way things were before she had entered his life.  
  
With a look of determination, he glanced down at Locke. "Are you ready?"  
  
The boy nodded, then his eyes widened in alarm. "Oh no! I almost forgot!"  
  
"Forgot what?" Knives asked, and then he sighed. "I told you to go before we--"  
  
"Not that!" Locke blushed. "I mean, I forgot to bring Kiro."  
  
"Kiro? What's a Kiro?" Knives frowned. "Do you mean that stuffed cat? Aren't you a little too old for dolls?"  
  
Locke glanced down, a pained look on his face. "But I want it... she made it for me..." he trailed off, his eyes begining to water.  
  
Knives sighed, suddenly understanding. It wasn't the doll that was important to the boy, it was the memory that was attached to it. "Very well," he said, reaching down to ruffle the boy's hair, "go and get it. But be quick about it!"  
  
The boy gave him a grin and hurriedly ran back inside the ship. Knives watched him go, proud of the way Locke was handling the abrupt seperation from Meryl. For the first three days after they had returned without her, the boy had been moody, refused to eat, and done his best to ignore the older Plant's presence. It wasn't until Knives had sat him down and explained to the boy that it was what Meryl had wanted and that if the boy truly loved her, then he had to let her go. The child had argued, he had cried, but he had finally accepted it.   
  
Knives leaned against the car to wait for the boy to return. And waited... and waited. After about ten minutes, Knives irritably pushed away from the car and walked over to stand in front of the door, tapping his foot impatiently. His attention was so focused on the door, that he didn't hear the sound of approaching footsteps until they were almost right behind him. With a mild curse at himself for being so careless, he swung around, his hand automatically reaching for his gun... and stared down into the beautiful and currently very pissed-off face of Meryl Stryfe.  
  
"Just where in the hell do you get off ditching me like that!!!" she yelled, and angrily poked him in the chest with her finger, and he, surprised and maybe just a little bit afraid (although he'd never admit it) took a step back from her.  
  
"M-Meryl?" he stammered, too stunned by her sudden appearance to say anything more than that.  
  
"Don't you 'Meryl' me!" she wagged her finger in his face and then started toward him, causing Knives to hastily backup to avoid being knocked down. "Do you know how I felt when you abandoned me!? How much it hurt!? Well!? Do you!?"  
  
Knives finally ran out of space to backup and he smacked against the front of his ship, Meryl halting her approach to angrily glare up at him.  
  
"I... I thought you wanted to leave." he managed to gasp out before she could begin another tirade against him. She opened her mouth, about to start in on him again, and he quickly continued, "I knew how miserable you were becoming here and how hard it would be for you to say goodbye to Locke when the time came, so I decided to... to make it easier for you." he finished quietly, noticing the anger in her eyes slowly fade and be replaced by a look of sudden understanding. He glanced away, embarassed by his admission that he actually cared about her feelings.  
  
Her eyes softened momentarily before just as quickly returning to their former intensity. "What an idiot! Now I _know_ it must run in the family!" she said it in a way that revealed that she wasn't really angry anymore, but was just carrying on to spare Knives any further embarassment. Her face softened and she continued in a more gentle tone, "I make my own decisions, and if I had wanted to be back in Spring I would have left three months ago with Vash."  
  
Knives' eyes widened slightly as he heard her words. "You... you mean?"  
  
She raised an eyebrow and resumed her normal tone of voice. "The deal was for one year, and last time I checked," she smiled and then finished by repeating his own words from months ago back at him, "a year consisted of twelve months, not ten."  
  
He shook his head and smiled down at her. "I just can't get rid of you, can I?"  
  
She laughed and took a step back from him. "Not for two more months, anyway. And after that," she grinned teasingly, "we can renegotiate."  
  
"You're serious?" he asked.  
  
"Of course! Locke still needs me." she answered. 'And if you're going traveling around Gunsmoke," she gestured toward the car, "then I really need to go with you. I can't have you filling Locke's head with all the negative things about humans, he needs to hear both sides and make his own conclusions."   
  
He frowned down at her, feeling a brief stab of disappointment. "Is that why you came back?"  
  
"That... and for other reasons." she said softly, causing his heartbeat to quicken with the way she shyly smiled at him. She continued, her eyes taking on a shine. "For one, I never realized how boring my life had become until you and Locke came along. Vash and Milly both agreed with me, too. We all realized how much we missed the excitement and adventure of--"  
  
"Wait a minute," he interrupted, his gaze narrowing suspiciously, his heartbeat slowing to it's normal rhythm, "just what do you mean by 'we'?"  
  
"Hello, Mr. Knives!" shouted a friendly voice and Knives winced in recollection. "Long time no see!"  
  
Glancing to his left, he finally realized that Meryl hadn't come back alone. His brother and the annoying girl had come back with her.  
  
"Hey, Bro!" Vash greeted, coming forward with a grin, Milly trailing along beside him. "What's the matter? You don't look that happy to see us. But you sure looked happy to see Meryl a minute ago." he said innocently, his grin broadening as his brother glared death at him.  
  
Milly pushed between the two brothers, reaching out to grab Knives in a handshake. "You're looking much better since when I last saw you Mr. Knives." she said sweetly, emphatically pumping his hand up and down, seemingly not noticing how he recoiled at the touch. "I guess Meryl's been taking good care of you."  
  
Knives pulled away and turned to confront his brother, pointedly ignoring the tall girl. "What are you doing here? Just who invited you?"  
  
"Well..." Vash trailed off and absently rubbed the back of his head, trying to find the right words.  
  
He cast a helpless look at Milly, who immediately answered, "Well, since Meryl had decided she was coming back, then me and Mr. Vash had to come too. We couldn't leave you two unchaperoned, now could we?"  
  
"But... we've already been living unchaperoned for ten months!" he protested, his irritation begining to grow.  
  
"Exactly!" Milly replied with a grin, which only served to confuse and irritate Knives more because he didn't understand what the hell that meant.  
  
"Meryl!!!" an excited voice shouted out, and Locke launched past Knives and threw himself at Meryl, sending them both sprawling to the ground in a heap. "You came back! I knew you would!" he laughed, squeezing her tightly.  
  
"I missed you too, Locke." she wheezed, trying to breathe through the boy's rib-crushing hug.  
  
The boy scrambled off her and got to his feet, looking slightly embarassed by his overly enthusiastic greeting. "I'm sorry, Meryl. You're not hurt, are you?"  
  
"I don't think so." she replied, getting to her feet and wincing slightly as she brushed off the back of her skirt. She'd probably be bruised in that particular region tomorrow, but she found that she didn't really care. She pulled Locke into another hug, holding him close. "I love you, Locke. And I always will." she murmured into his hair, and felt him relax against her.

"And I love you, Meryl." he whispered back. "Forever."  
  
Vash chuckled and Locke smiled a greeting at him. "Hi, Vash! Me and Knives are taking a trip, are you and Meryl coming with us?"  
  
"Yep!" Vash answered happily, ignoring his brother's angry glare.   
  
"Hello!" Milly greeted the young boy, bending down to his eye level. "My name is Milly and I'm a friend of Meryl's. Is it okay if I come, too?"  
  
"Of course!" Locke responded, ignoring Knives' annoyed grunt. "It's nice to meet you." he added politely.  
  
Knives gave his brother an irritated look as Milly and Meryl headed toward the car to pack their gear, an excited Locke dogging their footsteps and insisting on helping them. "What's the real reason you're here, Vash?"  
  
Vash gave a slight shrug before responding. "I just thought it was time I took an interest in how Locke was being raised." His brother's eyes narrowed slightly and Vash gave him a small smile before his eyes focused gently on Meryl. "And then I have other, more personal, reasons." he added softly.  
  
With another of his huge grins, he picked up his bag and headed toward the car, passing Meryl as she came back to stand in front of Knives with a teasing smile. "What's the matter, Knives? Is our company really that unbearable?"  
  
"Yours, no," he frowned and gestured irritably toward the car, "My brother and... and that woman's, yes!"  
  
"Vash is Vash," she giggled, "and Milly will grow on you after awhile."  
  
"I still don't like this." he protested weakly.  
  
"You don't have to like it," she smiled and patted his arm comfortingly, "you just have to accept it."  
  
"Hey, wow! Is it okay if I drive?" Vash's excited shout traveled over to them and Meryl glanced in his direction.  
  
"No, you can't drive! Don't you remember what happened the last time I let you drive!?" she reminded him as she made her way toward the car, her eyebrow already beginning to twitch.  
  
"That wasn't my fault! That car was defective!" he whined, grabbing the car's keys off the dashboard. "Aw, com'on! I promise to be careful!"  
  
"No way!" Meryl shot back, standing on tiptoe to try and grab the keys from Vash's grip. "It's too risky!"  
  
Knives shook his head in disbelief at Vash and Meryl's behavoir, frowning slightly when his brother teasingly dangled the keys above the small girl's head, just out of her reach, and made a remark about her shortness. Or, as his brother so delicately put it, 'vertically challenged'. He started toward them, realizing that unless he took control now, things might very quickly get out of hand.  
  
Snatching the keys out of his brother's grip, he pushed between Vash and Meryl and slumped into the driver's seat. "I'm driving. Vash, passenger seat, the girls and Locke are in the back."  
  
"Yes, sir!" Vash saluted and hurried around the car to comply as Milly and Locke climbed in the back.  
  
Knives sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, and Meryl paused to give him a reassuring smile before climbing into the backseat next to Locke. Slamming his door shut, Knives pulled on a pair of dark sunglasses before inserting the key in the ignition and starting the car.  
  
"So... which way are we headed?" asked Vash, donning his own trademark pair of yellow sunglasses.  
  
Knives hesitated for a moment, unsure, before asking. "Which direction, Locke?"  
  
With a grin, the boy pointed off toward the distance and, with great certainty, answered. "That way!"  
  
"East it is then." Knives said, nodding approval. He stepped on the gas and steered the car in the desired direction, the setting suns at their backs.  
  
Meryl leaned forward, excitement sparkling in her violet-grey eyes. "East... where the suns rise and a new day starts." she smiled at Knives and Vash. "New beginnings."  
  
Knives frowned and gave a derisive snort at the comment, but there was no mistaking the softness that filled his eyes when he looked at the girl.  
  
Vash smiled, his eyes scanning the broad horizon that lay before them. _Yes, a new beginning..._ He glanced at his brother. _Another chance..._ He then turned to rest his gentle gaze on Locke. _And a new hope..._

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Maybe, after all this time... Eden was finally within reach.  
  
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END   
  
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